Lunar Legend
by Night's Fang
Summary: IYYYH Kagome learns she's not Kikiyo's reincarnation, but a feared LunarMaiden & an old comrade of Youko Kurama, & the fragments of the stone containing her powers & memories is in the FeudalEra. As if she didn't have enough problems to begin with anyway.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu Yasha or Yu-Yu Hakusho, don't sue me.

**A/N:** Damned Plot Bunny wouldn't leave me alone.

**Summary:** YYH Xover. It all starts with a dream before Kagome finds out that she isn't the reincarnation of Kikiyo but of a well known and feared Lunar Maiden Demon from Makkai and the former comrade of the infamous Youko Kurama.

**Decided Pairings:** Kagome/Kurama, Inu-Yasha/Kikiyo, Sango/Miroku, Yusuke/Keiko, Kuwabara/Yukina.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Kagome glanced at the camp fire with her eyes glazed over. It was the middle of the night and everyone around her was fast asleep, with the exception of Inu-Yasha who was missing. She assumed he had gone to meet Kikiyo once again. It should've bothered her to no end and back but right now by a glance one could tell that the hanyou's disappearance was not on her mind.

Glazed chocolate brown eyes looked desperately into the still blazing fire deeply.

"Who are you?" she whispered the question desperately hoping for the red and yellow flame to help her find the answer in maybe subdued memories. For by some unknown reason she knew that the person - no demon - who had begun invading her dreams again was someone she had known a long time ago. Perhaps in another life maybe?

After the last thought entered her mind she shook her head roughly trying to get that thought out again.

In another life! That was preposterous. She was Kikiyo in her previous life so that made no sense.

But then if that was the case then it should've been Inu-Yasha she saw, but the demon she saw wasn't Inu-Yasha.

"Argh! Stupid, stupid dream! Why can't you leave me alone again?! I don't want to be reminded of that arrogant fox!" she hissed at herself, but shut her mouth the moment she realised what she had said.

Great now she was even had given this mysterious demon in her dream a race.

Sighing heavily she flopped down on the ground reliving the dream that haunted her mind when she was asleep as a child and began invading her sleeping mind once again.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"_The forest seems thick enough. It should offer us enough cover to camp for the now and cover us when we raid the castle later." A tall youkai with long flowing silky silver hair, fox ears atop his head, golden orbs for eyes, and a pristine white tail, curling from below his white attire said in a deep voice as his gold orbs stared deep into his refection in the river._

"_Are you sure about this, Youko? I'm sure there must be more security in this place. He is part of the family I disowned, and you know how cunning they are. The last time you faced one of them they nearly managed to kill you." She replied from beside him, worry creasing her features._

_Except her features were now different. She didn't look like the normal human average cute high school girl she was, but a more elegant, beautiful, mature demon._

_Her hair wasn't messy raven black with it's usual blue highlights whenever light hit it, but was now silky, blacker than the night, with any light creating eerie yet beautiful silver highlights whenever it touched it, cascading down her face in a wavy curls._

_Her eyes were not chocolate brown anymore; they were a deep blood-crimson, glinting in the moonlight._

_Her skin was creamy and pale stretched perfectly on a well endowed yet athletic figure which her black and silver attire did nothing to hide._

_She didn't have claws like her comrade beside her, but she did have pointed elfin ears and fangs._

"_I'm aware of that Tsukina. The last time I met one of your now disowned family, was when I first rescued you from them. You still haven't stopped tagging along behind me." the youkai called Youko said smirking arrogantly._

_She huffed back and he chuckled at her before he did something that made her eyes widen in surprise._

_Lifting her chin and turning it to face him he leant in and kissed her with a soft hungry passion that he didn't seem to possess._

_Then as quickly as he kissed her, he let her go._

And Kagome woke up with a start sweat beading down her face.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Meanwhile in a comfy bed in the modern era, a young teenager with red hair and emerald green eyes also woke up with a start drenched in sweat.

The only word the said teen whispered was a sad confused question, "Why did I dream about Tsukina?"

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N: **So how was it?

Leave a note.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. Don't sue me.

**A/N:** Thanks to all those who reviewed. You guys make my day.

**Pairing:** Kagome/Kurama.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Yusuke looked at his red-haired friend with light worry.

Kurama hadn't been himself for the whole day now. And Yusuke couldn't understand why.

The once feared kitsune demon was usually quite perky, and fun-loving, traits of his being a kitsune.

But today the kitsune seemed to be really spaced out, deep in thought about something.

And Yusuke wasn't the only one who noticed it.

The others had as well.

"Hey Kurama what's the matter dude?" Kuwabara asked rather loudly not bothering to put the question subtly.

Said kitsune looked up, the sudden jerk from his thoughts apparent from the dazed look in his eyes, "Huh Kuwabara?"

"He asked you, what's the matter with you fox?" It seemed that Hiei wasn't quite subtle either.

"Oh nothing, just thinking about something." the kitsune replied aptly covering up whatever had been bothering him. And trying to make it sound more convincing he added, "I'm trying to figure out what to get my mom for her Birthday."

Kurama secretly thanked his stars that his mother in his current life had her birthday coming up in the following week.

Everyone gave him an understanding look before going back to what they were doing.

After all they all knew how much Kurama loved his mother. So they let him go back to his pondering.

All the while the kitsune was thinking about the dreams about his once 'comrade' that had been plaguing him.

It wasn't as if he hated those dreams. They were a reminder of her and the camaraderie and friendship they had shared. They were the only fond memories he had of his past. The ones with her or Kuronue.

But the dreams plaguing him night after night were really getting on his nerves.

Well in a way maybe he did hate being reminded of Tsukina.

After all he had admitted to himself a long time ago that he did love her, although he never showed it.

But he couldn't do anything about his feelings now, she had died in Makkai and her soul had probably passed on while he, afraid of doing so had re-incarnated himself.

He laughed bitterly inside his mind

He needed to do something about his dreams, and fast.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Inu-Yasha was ranting about something as the group walked along the forest.

At least that was what Kagome thought it was.

In truth Inu-Yasha had been yelling at Kagome about not being able to sense the now almost complete Shikon-no-tama that Naraku had in his possession, which was dangerous considering no one knew what he would do now.

The reality of it was that Inu-Yasha was worried what would happen to Kikiyo now.

If she was to live Naraku had to die.

If Naraku had to die, then he had to be found.

If he had to be found, Kagome had to sense the Shikon which was in his possession.

And that was exactly what she wasn't doing at the moment.

Kagome's mind was already pre-occupied so she didn't realise that in fact Inu-Yasha had been talking to her. She needed to sort out those thoughts of that mysterious demon from her dreams.

Who was he?

Why did that dream plague her?

Who was this Youko?

Why did he call her Tsukina?

Earlier a dream like this wouldn't have bothered her, but having the same dream over and over again since she was a child had to mean something.

Why did she feel that in another life she was the demoness Tsukina she saw herself as in the dream?

It was proven that she was Kikiyo's reincarnation, but something didn't fit.

From the first time she had ever heard it, she denied it. She never knew what made her do it, but it was a gut feeling.

Damn, she needed to sort her thoughts out immediately. And that annoying rant coming from Inu-Yasha wasn't helping her at all.

Couldn't he understand that she wasn't paying him any attention and had more important matters on her mind?

_By the wrath of Jigoku, that hanyou pup is even more irritating than the arrogant fox used to be! At least he used to leave me alone when I wanted to be alone with my thoughts._ thought a frustrated Kagome before turning around the face the said hanyou telling him to 'Shut the hell up.'

She just went back to sorting her annoying thoughts about the demon that plagued her dreams without realising the weird looks that her friends Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippo, and a very flabbergasted and scared Inu-Yasha.

The same thought kept going through all their minds, _Since when did Kagome's eyes change their colour to blood-crimson red?_

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** So hope you guys enjoyed it.

Leave a note.


	3. Chapter 3

**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights of Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu Hakusho. If I did I would be rich.

**A/N:** Sorry for taking so long to update and keeping my chapters so short.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The night was calm, starlit, and serene. Everyone around the campfire were deep in slumber save for two.

One being Inu-Yasha who was deep in the forest away from his comrades visiting Kikiyo.

The other was Kagome who stared dazed into the fire. Her dreams had gotten more vivid over the course of the past few days.

They had also changed, but in a way still stayed the same showing her the silver haired demon, and she couldn't understand why.

And then there was also her own appearance in her dreams. She couldn't comprehend why she wasn't human in her dreams.

It bothered her that she was the crimson eyed raven haired demoness Tsukina in her dreams.

"Who are you? Why do you bother me so?" she asked herself softly hoping she would get the answer to why she took on this avatar in her dreams.

When no answer was forthcoming she got up from her place and walked deep into the forest.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"I hate Koenma so damn much!" Kuwabara growled. "Right now there's nothing more I'd rather do than have his head on a plate."

"For once I agree with you baka." Hiei said.

"Who knew that the human world actually had another dimension in it? One that happens to be the past and has demons in it." Yusuke grumbled. "I can't even go and see Keiko."

"What's our mission again Yusuke?" Jin asked yawning.

"We're supposed to be searching for the shards of a powerful jewel called the Yami-no-Tsuki from the ancient Lunar Kingdom which once belonged to a powerful Lunar Maiden who lived about a thousand years ago, that has accidentally made it's way into this realm before shattering." Botan replied.

"We're aware of that Botan but what exactly is this jewel?" Shizuru asked.

How had she managed to persuade Koenma to be able to join them on this mission was something they were yet to figure out. But then again neither of them were complaining since the elder Kuwabara had let her faint spirit powers develop, and evolve quite well now making her a perfect team mate and formidable foe.

"Well according to the rumours I've heard it's supposed to actually be a really rare jewel which holds the memories of a particular Lunar Maiden." Mukuro spoke up suddenly and distantly, while concentrating on tending to the campfire.

Everyone's interest perked up.

"I heard she imprisoned three-fourths of her memories and three-fourth of her powers in that jewel just before she died as it was the only way for her to control her powers when she re-incarnated herself. Once she did that she died peacefully and searched for a body to be re-incarnated into. I've heard she planned to re-incarnate herself as a human and drag a human miko soul with her as all Lunar Maidens use the soul of a human miko to control their powers." Mukuro continued.

"Once she did that, her soul would - in a matter of speaking - lay dormant and her human body grew to the appropriate age, the jewel would automatically be attracted to her helping her raging her memories and thus giving her access to her demon powers again." she finished.

"But I don't understand. Why do something like that? She could've done what Kurama did." Yusuke said.

"Well yes she could have, but she chose not to. You see I think we don't know the full information about this demon. Koenma may have instructed Botan not to tell you exactly who the jewel belongs to or he may have not told that to Botan as well in order to keep this a secret. And I'm sure this must be a very big one, considering Koenma rarely does something like this. So I did a little research on it myself and I found out quite a few interesting things about it." Mukuro stated.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"You see what you don't know is that the Spirit World is just a separation barrier of the realm of living souls from the realms of dead and mystic souls. The worlds beyond Rekkai itself is branched into many dimensions. And the lords of the worlds of these worlds are more powerful than Rekkai, Ningenkai, and Makkai put together times ten. Two most commonly heard of ones are Heaven and Hell. Hence not many are really told about it. This is the most well kept secret in Rekkai."

"Now coming to the Lunar Maiden in question. Well the particular Maiden that we are talking about was very fond of humans. Her most trusted friend actually happened to be a very powerful human miko. Another thing was that she was actually never given any training in her powers. This came as a shock to me seeing as she was the heir to the kingdom and since she was somewhat of a medium between the Universe beyond Rekkai and this Universe and hence could use abilities like the ones there have. This may explain why she decided to imprison most of her memories and powers in the jewel so that she nullified the chances of her powers going awry and taking the lives of her human family." Mukuro explained.

"That seems reasonable." Toya spoke up.

No one noticed Kurama stiffen except for Mukuro.

Kurama however didn't pay Toya any attention. He was too deep in thought.

"I think I'll call it a day now. I'm really beginning to feel tired." he suddenly said.

"Yeah same here. We have to get an early start in the morning anyway." Yusuke said.

With that most of the camp retired for the night save Hiei who decided to keep watch.

However Kurama didn't sleep at all that night.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Inu-Yasha panted as he avoided another blow the spider demon sent at him. He had to admit this demon was a powerful one.

Screw that, the demon they were facing was probably the strongest one they had ever faced.

It was probably stronger than Naraku, Sesshoumaru, Kouga and him put together, and that was definitely extremely powerful.

What was even more annoying was that this demon was in fact one of Naraku's discards which was created after Naraku had accidentally shattered the Shikon once again, and this demon had such a dark aura that the priestess of the nearby village who was much more powerful than Kagome and who happened to be aiding them couldn't even purify it.

Miroku wasn't able to suck it in with his black hole for it was far too large, while Inu-Yasha's own Wind-Scar, Backlash Wave, and Diamond Onslaught had no effect on this demon. Sango and Kirara had been swiped at and injured by one of the demons poison tipped pincers and couldn't be expected to fight.

Kagome had been fatally injured earlier by another demon that had nearly left her at the point of death, and hence couldn't do anything since she was bandaged and still healing from all the injuries she'd sustained.

BAM‼

He cursed. The demon had just hit him with one of its pincers and sent him flying hard into a tree.

"Kagome no don't go. You're too weak. The demon will probably kill you." he heard Shippo yell.

He saw Kagome limping towards the demon, carrying her nearly broken bow and the single arrow she had left.

"Kagome stop!" Sango yelled. "That demon is too powerful. You wont be able to purify it."

Kagome however wasn't listening. Her eyes were solely fixed on the blackish blue light coming from the demons chest. She had asked the priestess about it but the priestess had told her she was delusional.

However Kagome knew something was amiss about that blackish blue light which only she could see.

Something about it seemed too familiar. She could feel waves of power emanating from it. And besides she could also sense a jewel shard next to that blackish blue light.

So she deduced that the source of the demons power was there and hence her reason for picking up her bow and arrow and aiming her last arrow at that point.

For some reason her should be fatal injuries didn't seem to be bothering her and she had never felt so calm in her entire life. The other worldly evil light only she could see being emanated from the demons chest seemed to comfort her.

Somewhere deep inside her she had a gut feeling that everything would turn out to be all right and for some reason she would soon be a bit closer to understanding her true self and the dreams that had been plaguing her.

She whispered a soft prayer, "Midoriko, I need your help. Please! We'll do it together." She didn't understand why she took the long dead priestess name but she did and it made her feel a bit better.

Always being one to trust her gut feelings she summoned all the energy she had left and transferring it to her arrow she shot it. And what she saw surprised her and everyone around her.

The jewel shard around her neck glowed bright, and so did her arrow tip as it made it's way to it's target. The pink light was tremendous and blinding.

But that was not what truly shocked the girl.

What did was that unseen evil blackish blue light that emoted from the arrow tip with equal fierce intensity as the purifying light.

And within seconds there was nothing left of the spider demon except two glistening shards on the ground. One a pure pink and one an evil blue.

She looked at both shards quizzically.

Picking up the shard of the Shikon she tucked it in her pocket, and then she let her eyes fall on the blue stone. There was something eerily familiar about it ad her body moved on it's own to pick it up.

The moment it touched her fingers it got absorbed into her skin and she felt an onslaught of memories.

And she fainted.

-x-x-x-

* * *

She opened her eyes gently. The light was too strong.

"Kagome are you all right?!" Shippo asked worried.

She didn't hear him and sat up gently letting her vision clear. Memories of the past still flooded her mind.

She didn't even realise that tears were now making their way down her face.

All she could think of were three people.

Her mind and soul sadly cried silently in lament, _Kuronue, Midoriko, Kurama!_

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** There finally done. And I made the chappie long just like you guys wanted it.

Though I know it sucks.

Anyway leave me a note and tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. If I did then Kagome wouldn't be Kikiyo's re-incarnation and it goes without explanation to say that she would be more kick-ass.

**A/N:** In case you guys are mad about me not updating earlier I had exams on, so that may explain the temporary hiatus.

By the way this is more of a narrative chapter reflecting Kagome's thoughts about finding out who she really was and how she's dealing with the new situation. The YYH part is in the end and is small.

Oh any one ever noticed that most of the leading heroines in the animes are always the utterly confused Mary-Sue damsel-in-distress, I-will-forever-love-you types? Sure Kagome rocks but she's hardly given much depth in the anime.

Message me with your thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Kagome sighed as she looked around the room.

Ever since she had defeated that huge spider demon and fainted after that, things had become difficult. Her worries had grown. She had come across so many demons having the shards of the jewel containing her old memories and powers as Tsukina a.k.a. the Yami-no-Tsuki. And most of the time the shard came attached to one of the shards of the Shikon-no-tama which had once again been shattered by Naraku – who still had a majority of the shards.

This led her to believe that the shards of the Yami-no-Tsuki were attracted to the shards of the Shikon-no-tama; considering the fact that she and Midoriko were good friends in her past life.

If this was the case then she was going to have a lot of trouble collecting the rest of the Yami-no-Tsuki since Naraku had the majority of the Shikon shards. This meant that he also could now be in possession of a majority of the shards of the Yami-no-Tsuki; which meant that he had to have tapped into its power even if he didn't realise it. And that made him more powerful than before.

She only hoped he didn't notice anything about the Yami-no-Tsuki and just assume it was the Shikon. It would make things a bit easier for her. She would be able to gather up the shards of the Yami-no-Tsuki with a little less effort. Not that it would completely cake-walk but a bit easy nevertheless.

The only other problem she was now facing was a silver haired inu-hanyou. Inu-Yasha was being the biggest pain in her whole plan of getting the Yami-no-Tsuki and regaining her memories and powers fully so that she could seal her powers once again before Naraku or any other evil demon found out her secret; or even worse they went awry, because the idiot had made Kikiyo join them. He was worried about what Naraku might do to her considering the many times the evil hanyou had tried to get rid of her. And she was sure that Kikiyo was starting to get suspicious of her. Either that or the stupid priestess who refused to die was trying to take back her own soul.

Neither sounded good since if Kikiyo became suspicious that Kagome was really a re-incarnated demon she would somehow hinder Kagome's chances of helping Inu-Yasha retrieve the Shikon jewel – and the Tsuki jewel along with it – thinking that Kagome may have an ulterior motive for collecting the jewel.

And If Kikiyo was trying to take back her own soul and succeeded then her own – now completely awoken – soul would fully call back the Yami-no-Tsuki jewel – and thus the Shikon that somehow attached itself to it, but that was not the problem – and the onslaught of memories would be too much for her so she wouldn't be able to contain her powers. That would not only prove fatal to her but bring forth a lot of problems as well, as she would literally be unleashing all hell on earth.

And it wouldn't be like last time when Inu-Yasha's father Inu-Tashio's third sword, the sword of the Netherworld awoke. (1) This would be much worse since the creatures of Jigoku (2) were far worse than even the strongest demons in Makkai. And she was sure it would be hard handling them.

She was glad about a few things though. One was that she had found a way to tap into the Shikon-no-tama and release the shard of Midoriko present inside it. So she had company whenever she felt lonely, since the spirit of the priestess would come out and give her company like the days of old. Though she was still a bit annoyed that Midoriko giggled at her new human appearance. Sure she didn't look as elegant and matured as she used to in her previous life, but she felt didn't look that bad as a human at all. In fact she liked her human looks more than her demon ones, she felt they suited her more.

The second was that she was slowly regaining all her demon abilities of agility, speed, and power, so now even if she was forced to face demons alone for some reason and ran out of sacred arrows, she would still be able to fight using her demonic abilities. Though she knew that even if Inu-Yasha left her hanging in a situation like that, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara would never do that. And she was sure if that ever happened – which she knew would never happen unless they were all so badly injured that they were unconscious – the fragments of Midoriko's soul in the Shikon would emerge and probably purify the demon into oblivion before Kagome even lifted up a finger to use her own powers. And she was sure that after that her friend would berate her for getting into such dangerous situations.

Midoriko was a sweet heart.

The third thing she was elated about was that her human family had accepted what she really was when she told them without bothering at all. She still remembered that bit fondly when her mom said, _"Whether you're the re-incarnation of Inu-Yasha's former lover the priestess Kikiyo, or the princess of a Lunar Demon clan in this demon world Makkai you just told me about doesn't matter to me. What matters is that now you're my daughter, and that's the only thing I'm bothered about." "Yeah sis, mom's right! I don't care about what you used to be either. You're one hell of a big sister, and you rock!"_ Souta had yelled in response. Her grandfather's reaction had been funny as well when he had started ranting about how he didn't mind as long as he didn't have to deal with certain "Demon Issues" like heat. Her cheeks had flared up at that one.

They weren't the only people who now knew who she really was and had accepted her just the same, but so did most of her friends in the feudal era, like Sango, and Shippo. She had told them when they went to bathe, and they didn't seem to have much of a problem with it. They didn't even seem surprised and Sango had actually told her that it was expected since she knew that re-incarnation always seemed to have similar traits of personalities as their former selves and except for her miko powers and fondness for Inu-Yasha – Sango still didn't like using the word love in context of Inu-Yasha and Kagome's relationship for some reason – she had nothing in common with Kikiyo.

Sango and Shippo had actually been happy that Kagome turned out to be a demon. She had no idea why. And now they constantly bugged her to tell them anecdotes from her previous life whenever they were alone of out of earshot of everyone else, including Inu-Yasha's demon ears.

So now she didn't have to bother about putting her new friends in peril since she was sure should anything happen, Sango now knew how to deal with the situation.

Her face brightened up. Putting everything in perspective, things weren't as bad as she had thought it to be earlier.

Her now alert senses picked up Sango coming towards the room. And she forgot about all her plans of getting the Yami-no-Tsuki back, as she began trying to remember a funny story from her past to tell the demon slayer before she kept her up all night berating Kagome for not thinking of her as a friend and keeping secrets from her.

She knew if that ever happened she may instantly reveal a lot of things earlier than she was supposed to, and she didn't fancy the thought of having Sango pestering her to describe a certain arrogant fox while she was trying to concentrate on getting all her memories and powers back.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"This is getting annoying. I'm fed up of having to deal with stupid, low-life less than D grade demons wasting our time." Hiei said as he cut through a few more demons with his sword.

"Likewise!" Jin replied blowing them away.

"Yeah same here! Koenma sure gives us annoying missions!" Yusuke yelled killing the remaining demons with his shot-gun.

"And you want to know the most irritating part of this whole thing? We've only collected seven shards of the Yami-no-Tsuki. The rest are just some fragments of a pink stone." Botan said as she slumped down on the ground.

"Well add another one to the collection." Kurama said throwing another blue gem fragment to Botan. Then he began clearing the area with his plants to create a camp spot for the night while Mukuro and Botan took out food for their dinner.

"We should be glad that the demons here aren't after something like this, considering most of them are even below the D Grade." Mukuro said as she began to start up a campfire.

"That's because they seem to be after these pink fragments that we've found attached to the Tsuki fragments." Touya said.

"I asked a farmer in one of the villages we passed what it was. He told me they're the fragments of a pink gem called the Shikon-no-tama also called jewel of the four souls. It seems a few centuries ago a famous priestess created it with her own soul during her final breaths while attempting to kill three demons plaguing her village. She imprisoned her soul along with the souls of the demons that nearly killed her in it, hence the name. The farmer said it can power up demons." Shizuru explained as she took the bowl of instant noodles Mukuro offered her.

The detectives looked up at her. The elder Kuwabara was proving to be more resourceful with every day that passed which was a good thing since the younger Kuwabara – although being dependable and trustworthy – was most of the times a big pain.

"I've heard about it. The priestess' name was Midoriko!" Botan vouched and Kurama dropped his bowl of noodles. _What?! Midoriko died?!_

"What happened, Kurama?" Yusuke asked.

"Nothing, my hands were sweaty so the bowl slipped." Kurama covered up smoothly, chuckling nonchalantly. _I shouldn't have done that. It was stupid of me. Why should the news surprise me so? Midoriko-chan was a human after all. I should've expected that news. Humans don't live as long as demons do. Though that explains why we keep finding those pink gem fragments along with Tsukina's memory stone. She was attached to Midoriko._

_Things are getting more complicated for me by the moment. First I find out that Tsukina will be re-incarnating herself, if she hasn't already. And I've been getting this gut feeling that she has already re-incarnated herself. Then I find out Midoriko's soul also hasn't passed over. What next? Kuronue's soul also hasn't passed over?_ Kurama thought.

Things were definitely getting complicated for the kitsune. For the first time he actually believed in karma.

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Just a few notes explaining stuff.

(1) I forgot the name and I watched Swords of An Honourable Ruler only yesterday. Damn I have a bad memory!

(2) I think that's the Japanese word for Hell, I'm not completely sure. If it's wrong, then please forgive me. And if you know the proper term then please send me a message telling me what it is. I may be able to use it in an upcoming story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. But I do own the plot-line. And you can't say I've copied it because once I got the idea I searched the entire for any story like this, so there!

**A/N:** I re-read my whole story and realised how fragmented and vague it is. I felt it's lost its original direction, so I decided to redo the whole overview. Another thing is that in the heat of my adrenaline for writing my fan fictions and other things I've neglected my studies and I can't continue doing that. Hence now I have to focus more on that task.

Hence because of the above stated reasons my updates may be a bit infrequent. However I'm not going to discontinue writing this story (or my Wallflower story for that matter) so don't give up on it. I will continue writing it and though I may delay in updating I promise that the forthcoming chapters therefore will hopefully make more sense, not be so vague, go in the direction I meant it too, not drag on and not be too rushed at the same time.

And they will – hopefully – be longer.

And one more thing, for the sake of convenience I'm using Kazuma Kuwabara's first name in this story. It'll be less confusing that way.

Thank you to all those who review. I'm glad some people like my writing since many people tell me I suck at coming up with stories especially fan fictions.

This chapter is quite huge and most of it has Botan explaining a lot of things to the YYH gang. The IY part of it is in the end.

The gist of the first part of the chapter is that the YYH gang now have another simultaneous mission of collecting the shards of the Shikon-no-tama, and Botan explaining why they have to do it. Also The Detectives find out that Kurama knows Tsukina and he tells them how he first met her. It may seem a bit boring but it may get confusing later on if you guys skip it.

I'm done, now on with the story.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Botan are you sure about this?" Yusuke asked. "I mean we can't take another mission, while we're already doing one."

"Yes I am Yusuke." She replied. "I decided to tell Koenma about those pink shards we keep finding attached to the Tsuki shards. And he confirmed the story about the Shikon-no-tama which Shizuru found out for us. And what he told me after that made me accept this mission as well without hesitation. He told me the final decision is up to you guys but I'm sure after listening to what he told me you guys would agree to do this as well." Her expression was very grim.

"All right Botan, why don't you tell us what Koenma told you." Mukuro said.

Botan nodded. "All right, we all know about he creation of the Shikon-no-tama right?" she asked.

"Yeah! My sister found out about it when we found so many of its fragments attached to the Tsuki jewel shards, remember?" Kazuma said.

"Well that was about the only thing we did know about the Shikon-no-tama. I found out even more about it. A reason that will explain why shards of both the gems have suddenly attached themselves to one another. It seems that the priestess Midoriko who created the Shikon-no-tama was in fact a very close friend of the Lunar Maiden who created the Yami-no-Tsuki." Botan explained.

Then her eyes turned hard. "I also asked Koenma why he didn't give me any information about the Lunar Maiden who created the Yami-no-Tsuki, and do you know what he told me?" she asked.

The others looked up.

"He told me that he didn't tell me about it because he was afraid he may not have all the right information. And he told me something else. Something that got me very angry. It seems that there is someone in our little group who does know a lot about the Lunar Maiden in question. Someone who he expected to figure out who the Maiden was and automatically tell us about them. But it seems that this person has been keeping mum about it for so long." She said. An awkward silence fell on the group. Everyone wondered who this person was.

She turned around to the emerald eyed red-head of the group. "So care to tell me Kurama why you decided to be ignorant about the fact that the Yami-no-Tsuki which we are searching so desperately for is actually the jewel created by your old comrade Tsukina?" she seethed.

Everyone's eyes widened and they all turned to Kurama. The re-incarnated kitsune however had his head bowed low. His red bangs covered his eyes so no one could see what emotions were running through him at the moment. Everyone was angry at him. How could he be keeping the fact that he knew the demon that created the Yami-no-Tsuki a secret?

However Mukuro didn't seem to think that way since she spoke up. "Botan, please don't get upset at Kurama. I too knew about Tsukina, and I'm sure Koenma hasn't told you the whole thing yet."

"What do you mean Mukuro? Why the hell are you defending Kurama? He should've told us he knew Tsukina. I'm sure he probably knew about the Yami-no-Tsuki as well!" Botan said.

"No he didn't Botan. You see Tsukina left Kurama's group of bandits quite suddenly and was never seen again." Mukuro stated. "While I was a slave all those years ago, my masters brother was a very well read and kind person. I found out a lot of things in his notes. He was actually researching that particular Lunar Dynasty and he traced Tsukina Yami's every step through life. It seems she joined Kurama when he raided her old castle. I don't know why she did it considering she was heir, but she did. And after many years of being part of their group she suddenly left one day and was killed."

"It is common knowledge between thieves that the treasure and wealth of any castle are kept in two places. One is in the topmost tower and the other is the lowermost, most secret underground chamber of the castle. Right Hiei?" Kurama suddenly spoke up.

A bewildered Hiei nodded. "Yeah! It was a trick used to at least retain some of the wealth. And also if anyone knew that they would have trouble running from the topmost tower to the lowermost level to collect all the treasure." He said.

Botan flared up once again. "What's this got to…?" she began but Kurama cut her off.

"There was this huge castle my men and I had heard off. I heard it was pouring with valuable treasures so I decided to raid it. When I raided the castle I combined my plants with a spell to create another avatar of myself. I let the avatar take the tower while I searched for the basement treasure room. I finally got there and using my plants I sent all of the treasure out to my men waiting for me. It was then I noticed a tiny trap door. I was greedy then and thought that maybe more treasure would be down there. So I opened it and went down. But what I saw wasn't another treasure room. Instead it was a hidden dungeon. A small dark, dingy dungeon that reeked of blood and countless horrors inflicted inside it. The whole placed seemed to be swirling with liquid memories enclosed in bluish black bubbles. And if you touched those bubbles you would actually see what happened to people imprisoned there." He said shuddering a bit.

"And inside that little hell-hole I found something that made me sick to my stomach. I saw a young unconscious demon girl laying in rags on the floor. She was severely beaten up, bleeding profusely, her cheeks were tear-stained, and she was clutching onto the corpse of an old demon woman whispering 'Grandma' in her state. From what I could make out the woman too had been beaten up to death. What's more was that this was the same demon girl I'd seen earlier when I scouted the area a week earlier, and when I saw her then, she was being paraded as the princess!" he spat out disgust heavily lacing his voice. He ignored the shock ridden faces of his demon friends.

"I was thrown out from my tribe when I was young for a fault not my own, and so I never followed any rules of my kind. But even I knew how disgraceful and sinful it was to hurt a Lunar Maiden. And if you're wondering how Tsukina ended up with me, I took her away from the castle while she was still unconscious. When she came too though she was quite happy to be out of there, and she joined my group of bandits. We were all outcasts and she in a way was one like us, so we took her in. She became my second in command and part of our family. Then one day after many years of being a part of the group, she just disappeared one night. Kuronue and I searched for her high and low but we couldn't find her. When we did, it was her corpse in the valley near her castle. She had been killed. She had once told us she loved that place a lot so we buried her there." Kurama explained head still bowed low. His fists were clenched tightly.

A hush fell on the group. It was understood that Kurama was trying his hardest to get over his comrades death, so he never spoke of her.

Botan's anger had calmed down. She looked at him sadly. So that explained why he kept quiet about Tsukina for so long. He didn't even know about her death or the Yami-no-Tsuki. In a way he was still mourning over his old friend. How could she get so angry at him?

"I'm sorry Kurama-kun. I really am." Botan whispered softly. The kitsune could tell that she really meant it since she only used the term 'kun' in these cases.

"It's all right Botan." He said.

"So Botan now that we've found out Kurama's reason for keeping quiet about this demon Tsukina for so long, could you please tell us why you agreed to our other mission of collecting the shards of the Shikon-no-tama?" Kazuma asked changing the subject and bring the conversation back to its original track.

"Well you see we already know about how the Shikon was created and stuff, none of us know what happened after that. It's a long story so I'm shortening it as much as I can without losing out on the important points. Koenma told me that through the years the Shikon-no-tama nicknamed the Sacred Jewel changed hands between many demons, humans, and holy people till it came into the possession of a young miko named Kikiyo." Botan began.

"This priestess protected the jewel from many demons and greedy humans. Then one day the miko met an inu-hanyou named Inu-Yasha who was in search of the jewel to become a full demon. It seems hanyous are frowned upon by both ningens and youkai here. Anyway this hanyou Inu-Yasha and the miko Kikiyo fell deeply in love and soon Inu-Yasha then decided he'd use the Sacred Jewel to become a full human. By the way just a trivial piece of information, Koenma told me that Inu-Yasha looks a lot like Kurama in his demon form except Inu-Yasha doesn't have a tail and his face is slightly babyish. Back to the story, during this time Kikiyo had been taking care of a human thief that had been injured called Onigumo. He had initially tried to turn a bunch of bandits against Kikiyo and gain the Sacred Jewel but the bandit leader found out at the last moment after being severely injured. He had his men burn Onigumo and, throw him down a cliff. Onigumo survived somehow and landed in Kikiyo's care." She explained.

Everyone listened carefully. They knew this information was going to be useful to them in some way.

"Well soon Onigumo fell in love with Kikiyo as well and became desperate to have her and the Shikon. In his desperation he called demons to feast on his body and soon his evil soul captured them turning him into a shape-shifting half demon named Naraku. The hanyou then took on Inu-Yasha's form and killed Kikiyo taking the Shikon from her before placing it in the shrine. He changed form again and lied to Inu-Yasha causing Inu-Yasha to take the Shikon. Just as he was escaping the real Kikiyo shot him with her sacred arrow and pinned him to a tree. After this she died and her body was burnt along with the Sacred Jewel as per her wishes. The Jewel disappeared after that and both lovers thought that they were betrayed by each other. This happened approximately fifty years ago from the current time now in this era."

"Then a while ago – you could say about a year back – a mysterious girl looking a lot like Kikiyo named Kagome showed up. She claimed to have come from the well near the tree Inu-Yasha was pinned to. The well is called the Bone-Eaters Well. What was even weirder about this girl was that she had the Shikon inside her. So people deduced she was Kikiyo's re-incarnation. Anyway while being chased by a centipede demon she freed Inu-Yasha. The next day the Jewel was stolen by a crow demon and in order to kill it shot an arrow to purify it, but she ended up shattering the Shikon when she killed the demon. Ever since then Inu-Yasha and Kagome have been searching for the Shikon. Along the way they've been joined by a kitsune pup, a monk with a black hole in his hand, and a demon slayer. Besides them there are many more, one being a wolf demon named Kouga."

"All these people have one thing in common, that being they've all suffered some way by Naraku's hands. Inu-Yasha and Kikiyo were forced to part thanks to Naraku. The monk's black hole is a curse placed on him by Naraku. The demon slayers entire village was wiped out by Naraku, and he now controls her barely alive younger brother by the Shikon shards. Kouga had his wolf brothers of the northern part of this region killed by Naraku. So now there are many people who are trying to kill Naraku. And besides them there's also Inu-Yasha's older half-brother who he doesn't get along with called Sesshoumaru, though his reasons for trying to kill Naraku are unknown. Naraku had gotten all the jewel shards but the jewel shattered again so everyone is on a wild goose chase again." Botan concluded.

"So then why do we have to collect the Jewel shards and defeat Naraku?" Yusuke asked. "There are already many after him!"

"Well one thing is that Koenma feels that Naraku may be stronger than all of the ones after him. He equals Raizen, Touguro, and Yomi put together in power. Besides Naraku is very cunning. If he does manage to collect the jewel shards this time no one will be able to stop him. He's as demented as Sakyou was. You remember that right?" she asked. They all nodded. Though Botan noticed a distant look cross Shizuru's face. The elder Kuwabara clearly still hadn't forgotten her first love.

"There's one more thing. This is the past of Ningenkai. Whatever happens here will affect the present. The present is supposed to be that all the weak demons die out and the stronger ones finally live in Makkai. If he isn't stopped that there won't be a Ningenkai in the future." Botan said.

The others tensed up.

"And also one more thing. We've deduced that the Shikon shards and the Tsuki shards are attracted to one another. Hence if Naraku manages to complete the Shikon, he'll complete the Tsuki as well. If that happens he'll be able to tap into the powers of the Tsuki and see Tsukina's memories. If he realises about the other worlds well… Let's just say that along with Ningenkai, there's a chance of Makkai, and Rekkai ceasing to exist as well." She said. "And besides I haven't finished my story as yet."

Everyone perked up. Things were already looking grim. Why was she so insistent on finishing her story after all this?

"Now what makes this story more interesting is what Koenma nick-named the 'Kagome factor'. There's something strange about her. You see a demon revived the long dead Kikiyo and gave her a body of her ashes and grave dirt. This form of Kikiyo lives with a fragment of only her true soul and by stealing souls of the just departed. However it's a known fact that no one can exist even if a fragment of their soul is missing, unless they have two souls. It doesn't make a difference if you're from Makkai, Rekkai, or Ningenkai. Also Kagome – Kikiyo's 're-incarnation' – can sense Jewel shards from yards away like she has a super demonic sense and the shards are a person, while Kikiyo could – even when she was properly alive – could only sense the entire jewel within a tiny range and that too because of her miko powers to sense good and evil. Another thing about Kagome is that there have many times she's been possessed, most of the times by a miko." Botan explained.

"It is a known fact however that Lunar Maiden Demons always use the soul of a human miko to help contain the evil side of their powers. What we also know is that the priestess who created the Shikon has her soul trapped inside it. The same priestess' best friend happened to be a Lunar Maiden. One who knew them could say that they were in a way an extension of one another. Now why don't you guys put everything we've learned in the past few days and try and understand why we've been told to find the Sacred Jewel shards as well?" Botan said smirking.

No one needed to have to be spoon fed any more information. They understood fully well why they had to find the Shikon shards now and why Koenma had given them information about this group trying to stop Naraku.

"Oh and Kurama-kun, no more hiding things from us. If you know something that may be of use to us, tell us. We won't bother you as to how you know it." Botan said smiling.

Kurama nodded politely.

"Well fox, it looks like we're going to be meeting your old friend soon." Hiei said.

_That's just great!_ Kurama thought. _She'll probably try and kill me the moment she recognises me. And if Midoriko's soul is trapped inside the Shikon and I release her, she'll probably try and kill me as well._

Somewhere in the very far off distance one of Naraku's new incarnations told him about the existence of a new group in search of the Shikon-no-tama.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"Kagome I think that's enough for today." Midoriko's voice said as the fragments of her soul looked at the girl practising forming the large bubble – large enough to encompass a small village – of other worldly evil energy in hand out in the huge clearing of the woods they had found.

"Just a bit longer Riko-chan. Once I learn to control these powers of mine again it'll be a lot easier. Remember I was never allowed to go through my tempering stage properly and hence I can't control my powers well. Since I'm retrieving my powers and memories back so slowly I have to concentrate on tempering each of my powers one at a time as I retrieve them to its best so that I won't lose control." Kagome replied as she concentrated hard on trying to control the shape of the energy.

_Come on you can do this! You have to do this. If you can't you won't be able to handle the rest of your powers and it'll end up like that last time. Use your mind to create a hollow sphere._ She thought.

"You'll overwork yourself dear." The miko said.

"I won't Riko. You worry about me too much." Kagome replied eyes closed deep in concentration.

"It's natural of me to do so. Now please stop. You may cause yourself some serious damage!" Midoriko said.

"Fine!" Kagome huffed dissolving the ball of energy before sitting down on the grass panting. Midoriko smiled.

"You know it's quite ironic." She said suddenly standing beside Kagome.

"What is?" Kagome asked.

"Your human name." Midoriko said.

"What's ironic about that Riko?" Kagome asked.

"Well in your previous life you were known as Tsukina Yami. But the people who knew you intimately knew you by another name. A name that only few – four to be precise – had the honour of calling you by. If anyone else called you by that name they generally never lived to see the next minute. And it so happens that the same sacred nickname no one was ever allowed to call you by happened to become your now freely used human name." Midoriko said then added, "Kagome."

The girl smiled lightly. "I see, so that's what you find ironic. Well it may be ironic for you but it's a relief for me. I was always more carefree when I was Kagome. And that was only when I was with either my Grandma, you, Kuronue or Kurama. As Tsukina I was more feared." She replied and Midoriko smiled.

"You haven't changed much." She said.

"Was I supposed to Riko?" Kagome asked. Midoriko just shrugged.

"The stars look beautiful, don't they?" Midoriko asked sitting beside her friend.

"Yeah like tiny liquid diamonds in the sky." Kagome replied.

"Kagome are you there?" Miroku called out as he entered the clearing along with Shippo. However on seeing the spirit of the long dead miko he got a shock. Kagome had forgotten than Miroku didn't know about her secret.

Shippo on the other hand greeted Midoriko pleasantly. "Hi Riko-chan!" he said jumping up and down enthusiastically. He was the only one who had actually met Midoriko's spirit. Sango knew about her but hadn't seen her yet.

"Hello Shippo!" she replied. Then she looked up at the still shocked monk, "And I'm assuming you are Miroku?"

He nodded while Kagome tried to stifle oncoming fit of giggles. "Miroku, this is Midoriko's spirit which was trapped inside the Shikon." She said.

"Actually I'm a fragment of my full soul." Midoriko corrected.

"Yeah whatever!" Kagome told Midoriko before turning back to Miroku. She guessed it was time her monk friend knew who she really was. "Sit down. I've got to tell you something important. You're in for the biggest shock of your life."

-x-x-x-

* * *

Miroku was still in shock the next morning about what he had found out about Kagome. He had a dazed walk while they were travelling.

"What's the matter with him?" Sango asked.

"Kagome told him." Shippo replied.

"Oh!" Sango said; then her eyes widened, "What?" she asked rather loudly gaining everyone's attention.

"Yeah I did Sango! He had a right to know. Now calm down." Kagome replied before yelling out to Miroku, "Watch out for that rock or you'll trip!"

Sango did calm down and just looked at Kagome. "So he's taken it pretty bad, eh?"

"I'd say so. He was quite shocked when he saw Riko last night. So I decided since he already saw her I should tell him." Kagome replied. "He'll get over it. It was just too much for him to take after fighting that demon yesterday."

"I'll make him get out of it. It creeps me out how dazed he is." Sango said walking up to the said monk and smacking him on the head with her boomerang. "Snap out of it Miroku."

It worked since the monk looked back at Sango. "You didn't have to do that you know." he asked.

Kagome walked up to Miroku as well and draped a friendly arm over his shoulders, "Yeah she didn't, but you looked so dazed it had us worried."

He stiffened and then relaxed. "Sorry I guess I'm still shocked about what you told me yesterday." He apologised.

"I figured it'd be that." Kagome said.

"So does Inu-Yasha know?" Miroku asked.

"Don't know how to break it to him. Besides I'm afraid if I do it may complicate things with Kikiyo joining the group and stuff. He's still confused between us and it may make things difficult for him especially since I'm losing the feelings I once held for him. So I figured I'll keep mum about it for a while and wait for the right time to tell both him and Kikiyo." Kagome said.

"Sounds reasonable to me." Sango said.

"Hey! Quit walking so slowly! We have to reach the next village by sunset!" Inu-Yasha yelled out from a fair distance in front of them unconsciously taking Kikiyo's hand. Kagome smiled inwardly as she noticed this. Maybe the right time to tell Inu-Yasha was closer than she thought it was.

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Done! This has to be the longest one I've ever written.

Hope you guys enjoyed it and you know the ritual. Leave a note.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. But I do own the plot-line. And you can't say I've copied it because once I got the idea I searched the entire for any story like this, so there!

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and support. I had some free time so I wrote this. Here's another chapter for you peeps.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Kagome sighed happily as she stretched out lazily against the futon. "Ah finally I get some rest to soothe my aching muscles!" she exclaimed happily.

"For a demon you sure seem to have very little stamina." Miroku commented dryly looking at his friend. Sango was busy setting up the utensils needed to cook their lunch in the village lodgings they'd received while Inu-Yasha and Kikiyo had disappeared to Kami-knows-where.

"Might I remind you that I still haven't regained all my abilities as yet? And I actually come here from about five centuries in the future where technology has advanced so much that a normal person hardly does anything anymore, so I'm used to being lazy. And Inu-Yasha made us walk a very huge distance today." The girl stated.

"Yes but considering you do spend most of your time with us now and you are used to actually walking and doing things, you shouldn't be so tired." Sango stated.

"And I've been tempering my powers." Kagome added, "That takes a lot out of me. I'm surprised I didn't look like a walking corpse today morning." She said.

"It can't be that tough, can it?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah! Trying to control energy from the other Universe which is situated beyond and unbreakable barrier of time and space, which has the capacity to kill you and obliterate your soul leaving no traces of it, or send it to the deepest pit of hell to suffer eternally is absolutely as easy as tying Shippo's hair in a ponytail!" Kagome said sarcastically.

Both Sango and Miroku bowed their heads low. "Sorry!"

"Forget about it." The girl stated nonchalantly.

"So Kagome, when are you going to tell Inu-Yasha?" Shippo asked.

"Tell Inu-Yasha what?" Kagome asked turning her attention to the kit, looking absolutely confused. Kirara, Miroku, and Sango sighed. The girl could be so dense at times.

"About whom you actually are!" Shippo exclaimed, "That you're a re-incarnated demon."

"Um… Truthfully I have no clue. I'm waiting for the right time you see, the perfect time when he'll actually listen to reason and not go on one of his fits." Kagome explained. "And seeing how rarely he is in that state of mind I have no idea how long I'm going to be keeping this a secret from him."

"I think forever may be a good option." Miroku joked.

"Unfortunately we don't have that much time." Kagome mock sighed dramatically making the kit who was seated on her lap laugh hysterically. And seeing this she began to tickle him. Sango and Miroku laughed at the childish antics of their two friends.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"We can't go and see Midoriko's cave. The villagers said that there was strong demonic aura that has created a barrier that can't be broken, and the barrier doesn't allow anyone to enter it. One villager said he saw a sword near the entrance of the cave." Inu-Yasha said.

"Are you sure about that?" Miroku asked a grim Inu-Yasha who nodded the affirmative.

"Absolutely sure." Kikiyo agreed. "Why would the villagers lie to us otherwise? We only wished to pay our respects to Midoriko." she asked.

_Maybe because of the fact that Inu-Yasha is a hanyou and you have soul-eaters wandering around you._ Kagome thought sarcastically.

_Now dear it's of no use thinking the obvious, and it is worse stating it, since you have to catch Inu-Yasha in a good mood._ Midoriko said inside her mind.

Kagome inwardly sighed in light agreement.

_Kagome do you feel that aura?_ Midoriko suddenly asked.

Kagome frowned before concentrating hard on the aura that Midoriko spoke about. _No! That can't be right!_ She thought.

"So we'll be going to check this out?" Sango asked from just behind Kagome bringing the girl out of her thoughts.

"We should check it out. It may be Naraku or one of his incarnations." Inu-Yasha reasoned.

"Let's get going then." Kagome said suddenly grabbing her bow and walking out of the house they were staying in. _This aura! It can't be him! He couldn't be here!_

"Wait up Kagome!" Shippo yelled out from behind her as he caught up to his adoptive mother. She stopped immediately. "Shippo transform into that levitating ball, will you? I need to get to the cave where Midoriko's body is crystallised." She pleaded and the boy kit agreed.

Soon they were flying off to the cave. "Slow down Kagome! What's your hurry?" Sango said riding up next her along with Miroku on Kirara's back.

"I just sensed a very strong aura. It was only for a fleeting moment but I felt it. It may be dangerous." Kagome said. She turned around and saw that Inu-Yasha was close on their heels while Kikiyo was being carried by her soul eaters. She couldn't tell Miroku, Sango or Shippo about the fact that the aura was extremely familiar. So she merely looked ahead and urged Shippo to go faster.

They arrived at the cave within minutes. "There seems to be nothing unusual about it. Maybe the villagers were imagining it." Miroku suggested.

"Let's check it out just to be safe. You never know. Maybe Naraku or one of his incarnations may be inside the cave." Inu-Yasha said walking inside. The others followed him. They managed to go a light distance from the entrance of the cave before Inu-Yasha was suddenly thrown backwards.

"What the hell?!" he yelled rubbing his head.

"It seems like a barrier." Kikiyo said as she touched the edge of it. "A pretty strong one, might I add."

"Well stand back then. I'll break through it with my red Tetsusaiga." Inu-Yasha said as he unsheathed his sword. The others complied obediently and moved behind him. Inu-Yasha held his sword in front of him and when it began to pulse while glowing red he swung it at the barrier but nothing happened. He swung again and again hitting the barrier repeatedly but nothing happened.

Kagome seemed to be the only one unfazed by this while the others just stood there completely stunned. The only barrier that couldn't be broken by Inu-Yasha's sword was the barriers Naraku created.

"Maybe Naraku is hiding here." Miroku stated.

"I don't think so Miroku. If he was here I'd sense the shards of the Shikon – even through his barrier. I can't sense the Shikon-no-tama at all. I'm assuming it's another demon all together." Kagome stated calmly. _And I can bet my life on that since this is a Makkai barrier._

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Sango asked and Kagome nodded. She looked at her and mouthed the word "Makkai" to the youkai exterminator who immediately understood why the raven haired girl had rushed there in the first place.

"Inu-Yasha stop that!" Kikiyo called out. "Kagome's right I can't sense any of the Sacred Jewel shards either or Naraku's presence. Now stand back I'll try and purify it. Kagome you should get out. In case anything happens at least you'll be safe." She turned to the girl. "Please." The miko said and the girl agreed reluctantly before going back outside the cave and taking Shippo and Kirara with her.

The hanyou finally stopped his onslaught on the barrier and stepped aside allowing the un-dead miko to shoot a sacred arrow at the barrier. However her sacred arrow did as much damage as Inu-Yasha's sword had done.

"Why don't we try hitting it together?" Inu-Yasha said and Kikiyo nodded both attacking the barrier at the same time.

"You should stop you know! No matter how hard you try you won't be able to get past the barrier I've created. Your attacks are too weak and besides not even a very strong demon can break my barrier." An amused voice suddenly said.

"Well if you are that strong why don't you come out and fight, then we can decide who the stronger one among us is." Inu-Yasha yelled back.

"It would be useless. I would win anyway. You have no chance of defeating me. Now why don't you leave nicely?" The voice said.

"I'll decide that when I see you!" Inu-Yasha yelled.

"Very well." The voice replied and then beyond the barrier a sword suddenly appeared. Slowly a shape started forming behind the sword. Soon everyone could see a tall handsome demon with black hair and black eyes smirking. "Are you happy that I've showed myself now? Now will you leave?" he asked.

"Not completely. Why don't you come here and let's see who the better demon is?" Inu-Yasha asked arrogantly.

The demon behind the barrier smirked. "That is impossible, considering you are a hanyou."

"So what? Afraid of having your ass whooped by a half-demon? Or perhaps of getting killed?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"My, my! Aren't you impatient and touchy? You should let me finish my sentence at least. Like I was saying it is impossible, since you are a hanyou and I no longer have a body of flesh so I can't be killed." The demon behind the barrier said, then asked while smirking, "Are you sure you can still defeat me?"

All right that was surprising. Inu-Yasha looked taken aback but stood his ground. "Yeah I'm sure I can defeat you. I'm going to get inside this cave." He arrogantly stated.

The suddenly seemingly calm demon turned angry. "I won't let you enter here! No one may disturb Midoriko's resting area! If you do not wish to leave then you will die here. All of you!" he yelled waving his sword. A ball of energy came out of it shooting at Inu-Yasha through the barrier and hitting him in the blink of an eye.

The demonic soul continued swinging his sword and shooting more balls of energy at Inu-Yasha and the others as well.

Within seconds all of them were on the cave floor screaming in pain. The demon prepared to deal the final blow.

Meanwhile outside Kagome heard screams and ran inside. Her eyes widened at what and who she saw. _What's he doing? This is insanity!_

"Stop!" she yelled running in front of her fallen friends to shield them from the demons blows.

"Kagome what are you doing here? Stay out of this!" Inu-Yasha yelled but the girl ignored him.

The demon turned to her and the cruel look in his eyes faltered for a moment.

"And why should I do that? I already gave them one warning. No one is to disturb Midoriko's resting place!" he said. Then his eyes widened and the furious look returned, "Why can I sense Midoriko from you?"

Kagome's eyes softened as she looked at the demon finally understanding why he was acting the way he was. Though she couldn't help smirk inwardly. "You cared about her a lot, didn't you?" she asked. "You must've since even after you died your soul searched for her, and when you found out she died you decided to guard her grave." She added.

"_What are you implying?!"_ the demon shouted at her while Kagome felt Midoriko ask her the same in her mind at the same time.

"I'm merely implying that the two of you must have been very close friends." She said calmly. "I understand how you feel. We meant no harm here. And to answer your other question the reason you can sense Midoriko from me is because of this." She held up her shards of the Shikon-no-tama.

"Kagome what the hell are you trying to do?" Inu-Yasha yelled. She ignored him.

"You see Midoriko was trying to kill these three demons that attacked her village. They had injured her very badly and she was almost dying. With no option left she lured them into this cave and used the last of her miko abilities to stop them and hence trapped their souls along with her own in this jewel. That was about a century and a half ago. This jewel passed through many hands and finally came into my possession and protection and I accidentally shattered it. We're collecting the shards. We were passing by this village and decided that we'll pay our respects to Midoriko's grave. We didn't mean to disturb her." Kagome explained gently.

The demon looked at her suspiciously. "Trust me." She pleaded. Behind her Kirara purred on seeing the demon. He too finally noticed the familiar neko and finally sighed.

The demon put his sword down. "All right I'll let you pass. But if you try anything funny I'll kill all of you. Is that understood?" he said. Kagome nodded.

The barrier dissolved and the demon soul walked towards them. Understanding what he was about to do she stepped away and let him bend down and examine everyone else's wounds.

His hand began to glow green and he roughly picked up Inu-Yasha's hand. Slowly Kagome noticed Inu-Yasha's wounds being healed. The demon repeated the process with Sango, Miroku, and when he came to Kikiyo he frowned. "She isn't human. Well not anymore that is. I can't heal her." He said.

"I forgot about that!" Kagome muttered before she walked to Kikiyo. "Purify the evil energy in you body and give you another fragment of your soul right?" she asked the miko who nodded. She complied with the request and got up and turned around to see that the demon was fondly stroking Kirara.

"Long time no see my old friend. How are you Kirara?" He said as the neko-youkai purred happily.

Kagome smiled at him.

The gang soon paid their respects to Midoriko's crystallised body and left the cave. The demon led them out of the cave. "I am truly sorry for misjudging you." He said bowing low.

Sango smiled at him. "No you shouldn't apologise. Like Kagome had said earlier. You were only protecting her grave." She said.

The demon then turned to Kagome. "If it isn't too much to ask I would like to travel with you, Kagome. May I?" He asked.

Everyone looked eyebrows raised. "Let me explain myself. My soul is trapped in this sword and though I'm only a spirit I want to protect Midoriko, and you protect the Jewel that her soul now resides in. So if I protect you then I protect Midoriko. And I can help you in your battle against this hanyou Naraku." Miroku had told him about Naraku while they paid their respects to Midoriko.

She smiled and nodded. "All right I don't mind. I'm not sure about the others though?" she turned around. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo didn't seem to mind. Everyone already knew that Kirara like him.

"I don't see the problem with that. The more help we have against Naraku the better it is." Kikiyo stated. Inu-Yasha had no choice but to agree as well.

"Welcome to our group!" Kagome smiled.

"I'm Kuronue. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself smiling as well. _I already know that bat!_ Kagome thought.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Kagome sighed as she admired at the night sky, while Shippo sat on her lap. The fragment of Midoriko's soul present in the shards of the Shikon in Kagome's possession also admired the night sky with her old friend. Kirara curled around her former master's legs Sango and Miroku would be joining them in a while. Inu-Yasha had disappeared with Kikiyo somewhere.

Both were ignoring a very violent Kuronue who throwing a huge tantrum. "Why didn't you tell me who you really were?" he asked Kagome.

She just shrugged nonchalantly. "Well Inu-Yasha and Kikiyo don't know and it wasn't the right time for them to know who I am. Anyway why are you so mad?" she asked.

"Because I nearly killed you inside the cave!" he stated.

"You wouldn't have done it. You're too nice for your own good Kuronue." Midoriko stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. And soon the two of them began to quarrel.

"What's going on over here?" Sango asked as she entered the clearing where Kagome, Midoriko, Kuronue, Kirara, and Shippo were. Her eyes fixed on the two bickering souls.

"Yes I too want to know." Miroku asked.

"Oh nothing much! Just a lovers' quarrel! It's a common thing between these two." Kagome said giggling lightly at the sudden blush appearing on both her old friends' faces both of whom had now stopped bickering.

"Go suck up to the arrogant kitsune!" both yelled before going back to their bickering while Kagome laughed her head off.

_They're never going to change!_ Kagome thought forgetting about Sango, Miroku, and Shippo.

Somewhere else a boy with red hair and green eyes sneezed.

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Done. Leave a note. Bye.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. However, I do own the plot line. And you can't say I've copied it because once I got the idea I searched the entire for any story like this, so there!

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and support. Here's another chapter for you peeps.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

A week had passed since Kuronue had joined them and a lot had changed.

To say things had become tough for her was an understatement to Kagome. She had no word to describe her difficulties at all. And it wasn't because of the fact that Naraku may have most of the Shikon jewel and hence the Tsuki jewel. It wasn't because that he may have already tapped into her powers. It wasn't because she was still fumbling for a way to tell Inu-Yasha her secret.

It was far worse than that. She would gladly take having her soul ripped apart to pieces repeatedly in the deepest pit of hell than take this.

Naraku hadn't attacked, and he was now lying low. Sesshoumaru hadn't tried to kill Inu-Yasha when they stumbled across him during their journey. Kouga and Inu-Yasha didn't fight much over her when their group had run across the wolf-demon leader who had a crush on Kagome. The Ookami prince hadn't even called Kagome his woman and future mate; instead, they had just had a nice idle chat, which was refreshing. Ayame didn't try and kill her when she saw her while following Kouga. Kikiyo hadn't tried to take her soul back from Kagome. Miroku hadn't acted perverted for days and he and Sango were actually making progress with their relationship. Inu-Yasha hadn't even teased little Shippo.

So when things were going so well, one would wonder why Kagome wouldn't mind having taking the torture of having her soul ripped apart continuously in Hell, but that's what she wanted at the moment.

On the outside, she appeared calm and happy, but on the inside, she was fighting a losing battle, which was slowly driving her insane, and she was sure if it continued it would strip her of all sanity and presence of mind.

_For Kami's sake, would you two please stop fucking bickering so much, before I go mad here?_ Kagome yelled inside her mind at the arguing bat youkai and miko.

-x-x-x-

* * *

The Sprit Detectives kept all their senses alert as they ate their dinner in silence around the camp-fire.

"You don't have to worry that much you know. Kurama and Botan set up a double barrier. And I doubt that any demon here can break trough a Makkai or Rekkai barrier, let alone both. So we're pretty safe to eat in comfort. Even is a demon is trying to break trough, we'll be able to eat dinner, get a good night's sleep, train ourselves in the morning, have breakfast and he still won't be able to succeed." Mukuro said.

Everyone relaxed.

"I guess we should relax a bit since we have taken extra precautions, but it's gotten a bit tough since we've all gotten so used to watching our backs every second ever since Naraku found out about us." Jin said.

"Yeah! He's been sending so many demons after us. Truthfully it's annoying me." Touya stated.

"Though you have to admit, that Kagura chick is pretty good-looking." Jin winked.

"Can't you forget about chasing skirt, just for once?" Yusuke asked, "She's our enemy!"

"So what? She's cute! And it isn't a sin to admire someone from far off." Jin defended.

"You only know her for about a week or so. That to you've only seen her from a distance when she's attacking us, might I remind you?" Yusuke said.

"Oh I'm not bothered about that!" Jin said waving a hand dismissively, "She's cute. End of story."

"Baka!" Hiei and Kazuma said under their breaths while Botan, Mukuro, and Shizuru rolled their eyes at Jin.

"We're on a mission Jin. Romance Kagura after we finish." Kurama advised.

"Hai!" Jin agreed.

"And if she's alive." Touya reminded.

Jin shot him a sharp glare.

"I'm only being honest. She is an ally of Naraku and we've got strict orders to kill him and all those who are with him." Touya said.

Jin sighed dejectedly. "Thanks for stealing my sunshine. The one girl who I thought might have been my type is an enemy. Life's screwed up." He grumbled.

"Be thankful she isn't yours. I have someone and I can't see her." Yusuke grumbled at his elder half-brother.

"I empathise with you man. I know how much you must be missing Keiko. I miss Yukina as well." Kazuma sighed.

"We all know about that, remember? You don't allow us to sleep!" everyone yelled in chorus at him.

Kazuma whimpered.

-x-x-x-

* * *

"Kagura, I have a job for you." A voice said.

"What Naraku?" Red eyes flashed in annoyance as the said wind sorceress replied.

"Go and attack Sesshoumaru. You may take as many demons with you as you wish." Naraku said.

"What do you mean attack him? Even with million demons by my side it's impossible to kill or defeat him!" Kagura said.

"I didn't ask you to defeat him, neither to kill him. We'll leave that job to Hiei and his friends." Naraku replied.

"Them?" Kagura asked confused. Since when did they do favours for Naraku? Weren't they his newest enemies?

"Yes them. They've camped a little distance to the east from Sesshoumaru. All you have to do is attack Sesshoumaru and have him come after you, while you move eastwards. One attack gone wrong and he'll have all of Hiei and his friends trying to kill him since they act first and then ask questions. They'll finish each other off." Naraku said smiling maliciously.

"And what makes you think I'll do something so suicidal?" Kagura asked.

"Don't you want your heart?" Naraku asked.

"Fine!" Kagura said throwing a feather in the air before getting onto it and heading in the direction of Sesshoumaru's camp.

Naraku's malicious smile widened further.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Dawn was nearing.

Kagura sighed as she approached Sesshoumaru's campsite. She hated doing Naraku's dirty work.

She still hadn't figured on plan on how to lure the taiyoukai into attacking Hiei and his friends. She guessed she would just have to attack him head on and somehow drive him eastwards. She sighed once again and looked at her destination. She was nearing his camp.

Sighing one last time she drew forth her fan and readied herself. There was no turning back now. Within seconds, she released a few wind blades and aimed them at the taiyoukai. And so the game had begun.

It was perhaps one of the few times the great taiyoukai would allow himself to accept the fact that he had been caught off-guard, and had no idea what had hit him. Kagura had attacked so suddenly and swiftly that he had no initial chance to react. But he was a great taiyoukai and the Lord of the Western Lands. He had decades more of battle experience than the wind sorceress and hence recovered very quickly. Swiftly ordering Ah-Un to take Jaken and Rin and follow at a safe distance, he began his counter-attack on Kagura.

How dare she attack him?

However, he was doing exactly what Kagura had hoped he would do. Angling herself eastwards in the direction of the spot Hiei and his friends were, she blocked each of the taiyoukai's attacks with her wind. One thing she was glad about though; was that with Naraku gaining more power from the Shikon she too had gain more power.

She began moving backwards allowing the taiyoukai to think that his attacks were pushing her backwards, which worked. Soon she was dangerously close to the Spirit Detectives camp and she alighted on the ground still moving backwards. She had to time this right.

Sesshoumaru swiped a particularly powerful attack with his Tokojin and she jumped out of the way; however, the attack still kept going and hit the dissolving barrier of the Spirit Detectives. Kagura stayed in the air to see Naraku's plan unfold.

As predicted the moment the attack hit the dissolving barrier all of the Spirit Detectives were alert and prepared for battle. She saw the black haired hanyou – Yusuke she had heard them call him once before, she was only familiar with Hiei since he killed Nakago, Naraku's latest and most powerful incarnation. – ready and blast his demonic energy in Sesshoumaru's direction, while the others prepared to attack as well. Soon it was an all out war between Sesshoumaru and the Spirit Detectives. Now all she had to do was stay and watch so that she could see with her own eyes, who would prevail in this battle.

-x-x-x-

* * *

It had been hours now. The sun was high up in the sky signalling the time to be somewhere around noon and both sides were still battling strong, though Kagura was sure about the fact that if Sesshoumaru didn't possess Tenseiga he would be long dead by now. She waited on baited breath impatiently for the outcome of this spar. However, she wasn't the only impatient one. Naraku too, who was watching the battle through Kanna's mirror was getting rather impatient. Seeing as how both sides were about equally tired, he decided he would put and end to the battle himself and rid himself of many enemies and a disloyal servant at the same time.

Getting out of his shelter, he began heading for where his enemies were.

Kagura sensed him coming but didn't bother much. Until she felt her very faint heartbeat grow suddenly strong. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realised she had her heart back, and understood what Naraku was planning to do. She moved to get out of the way but before she could, the entire forest-clearing, now turned battle-field was attacked with a large amount of demonic energy that fatally injured everyone including her, before black poison gas covered the entire surroundings.

The last thing she remembered before slipping off into unconsciousness was seeing a bright sky blue light.

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Seems a little rushed and stuff but I had only a little time to do this before my laptop battery crashed so excuse me. The powers out and I can't even charge it. Besides, I have another fic to upload as well so once again excuse me.

I sincerely hope that this chapter doesn't sound too rushed or vague. And I especially hope guys enjoyed it.

Leave a note.

Thanks again. See ya later when I get the time to update next.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. You guys already know that.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and support. It means a lot. Just don't send death threats, it's seriously scary and not to mention extremely annoying.

Oh one more thing. I confused many of you guys in the last chapter about the part when Sesshoumaru accidentally attacked the Spirit Detective camp. He DID NOT destroy the double barrier they set up. They were ready to continue with their mission and were dissolving the barriers. Sesshoumaru's attack was co-incidentally at that time.

Don't get me wrong I'm not dissing Sesshy or anything like that. I'm a huge fan of his, but I'm an equally huge fan of Kurama, Hiei, and the Spirit Detectives, so I couldn't have Sesshy stronger than either of them, so I decided to keep them equal in powers. The reason I made Sesshy last so long in the battle against them in the previous chapter was because we all know it is possible for him to do so. He is SO VERY STUBBORN and capable of staying put in a battle if he wants to. Also if you watch the IY show and movies with a critical eye like I have done then you'd notice that even though he may never admit it – I think he hasn't realised it yet – the Tenseiga keeps him alive and keeps healing him during his battles since it is the sword of life.

This chapter is unfortunately short. And I'll be going for a compulsory retreat on Friday. So that means I won't get time to update till somewhere around the week after next.

Sorry!

Yeah that's it for the explanation.

On with the story.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Yusuke opened his eyes and looked up groggily. He waited for his blurred vision to clear before memories of what happened to him came back and he sat up violently ignoring the pain his abused body caused him and looked around. The place seemed strangely familiar but he couldn't place it. His mind was still hazy. Shaking it violently to clear it he looked at and took in his surroundings once again.

His wounds were bandaged and his body felt sore, his mind was foggy and his vision still a bit blurry; and the place he was in, was definitely familiar.

"You know you shouldn't be sitting up and straining yourself. Your body has taken a lot of damage and needs rest Yusuke." A familiar old voice said.

He turned to look at the speaker. "Genkai?!" he asked bewildered.

The pink haired woman nodded. "Aye! It's me all right. Don't look like you've seen a ghost boy! You're at my temple." she said.

"But how?!" he asked. "And where's everyone else?" he looked around for his friends.

"Well let me answer those questions Yusuke." Koenma's voice said suddenly from behind Genkai. The prince of the Rekkai stepped out from the shadows, a grim expression on his face. "You see before she passed out Botan activated the Dimension Warp device I had given her so that all of you could be transported here, so that you wouldn't be at the mercy of lesser demons while you were out and that your wounds could be tended to."

"Oh! That means everyone's here." Yusuke said sounding relieved. However Koenma's expression said differently. Yusuke tried to force away the feeling of dread that began to creep into him once again. "Right?" he asked.

Koenma shook his head indicating the negative. "You see for some reason it didn't work. Only you and Kuwabara were transported back here. He's being treated by Yukina in the next room. Mukuro and Hiei got warped back to Makkai quite close to Mukuro's castle. I know for a fact one of Mukuro's helpers found them and took them back to her castle. As for the rest, I'm afraid they're still in Sengoku Jidai." He said.

"What?! We have to go and get them! They were more injured in the battle than Kuwabara and me!" Yusuke said getting up shakily.

"You're not going anywhere!" Genkai scolded. "You've lost too much energy and blood. Even if you found them you wouldn't be of any help to them injured. Stay here and rest till you get better. You scared Keiko half to death when she saw your unconscious bruised form warp here. She refused to eat anything till you woke up and hasn't done so as well, and you've been unconscious for three days now." The pink haired woman added.

Brown eyes widened considerably. "She hasn't done what?!" Yusuke yelled. "Where is she?" Worry was clearly etched across his features.

"She fainted due to lack of food. She's been out for a while but she ought to wake up anytime now." Genkai said.

"Can I go to her?" the boy asked meekly.

Genkai nodded while Koenma moved to help Yusuke up. Using the Rekkai prince for support the hanyou Spirit Detective made his way to his future wife to be by her side. Giving the couple their well deserved privacy the Rekkai prince left the room.

Yusuke climbed onto the bed to lie next to Keiko. Her brown hair fell gently over her face blocking his view of it so he brushed her bangs away.

"Idiot!" he whispered softly looking at her sleeping face. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do this to yourself because of me?" he asked tracing a finger over her cheeks before pulling her slim body against his. "You better eat when we wake up or I'll force the food down your throat." He whispered again kissing his fiancée's forehead. Sometimes loving her was harder than facing death at the hands of demons.

Meanwhile in the next room the orange haired Kuwabara had everything right with his world for the moment while he lay in Yukina's arms.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Hiei opened his eyes and realised he was suspended inside one of Mukuro's healing capsules. He looked directly and noticed Mukuro standing in front of the healing capsule.

"You're awake." She said gently. "We got warped to Makkai somehow. We landed inside my castle grounds and one of the servants found our injured bodies before getting us inside the castle and putting us inside the healing capsules. I recovered faster since I attained fewer injuries." She explained before he could even shoot her a quizzical look.

From inside the chamber the small half-koorime shrugged casually trying to avoid the urge to sigh or smirk. Mukuro knew him too well.

-x-x-x-

* * *

His head pounded dully. He waited for it to clear so that he could take in his surroundings before he opened his eyes.

He could hear crickets chirping outside so that meant it was already night. The light musty smell of earth hit his nose. That meant he was in a cave near a river. He could sense strong auras around him which meant he wasn't alone. He tensed up a bit.

His body felt sore and he could feel something tight around his wounds. The smell of herbs emanated from his body. So that meant that the other occupants of the cave meant no harm. He took in their scent. It was earthy, and musty, like a wolf's, but he was sure by the aura they were demons. So that could mean only one thing. The ones who had saved him were ookamis.

That didn't bother him. If they had wanted him for a meal they would have eaten him long ago, and since he was bandaged he was sure he wasn't in danger. He gently opened his eyes trying to avoid any discomfort. He could see the ceiling of the cave.

Being careful not to aggravate any injuries he sat up and noticed wolf demons around him looking at him curiously. Just as he did an overwhelming scent that he hadn't noticed before assaulted his nose. It wasn't a dreadful or terrible stench but a rather pleasant mix of cinnamon and rain and he drank it in.

"Ah you're awake! You've been out for three days now. I started to get worried about you." A feminine voice hit his ears.

He looked at the speaker. It was a female ookami. She had long red hair tied in a bun and liquid emerald eyes that shone in the dim moonlight. The pleasant scent of cinnamon and rain seemed to be oozing from her.

"I came to check on you and change your bandages. Are you feeling better?" she asked and he nodded.

He looked up the dull pounding in his head finally receding. "So why did you save me?" he asked, the first question that came to his mind.

She sat down beside him and began undoing his bandages. "Truthfully I have no idea. At the time I found you it just seemed like the right thing to do. Another reason you could say is curiosity." She said.

"Curiosity?" he asked.

"Yeah! About a lot of things. You see you smell a lot like demons I've encountered before. One is a hanyou named Naraku who I hate. Another is someone I equally hate. She was made from him. Her names Kagura. She killed part of our wolf clan." The ookami girl explained.

"They attacked my comrades and me. That's why I smell like them. Is that all?" He said.

"I figured that out before you even told me. Well that wasn't the only thing I was curious about." She said as she began applying ointment on his wounded back. He winced as the wounds where Sesshoumaru's acid whip slashed him stung.

"What else are you curious about then?" he asked.

"Well you're a youkai, I'm sure of that, but I've never seen one like you before. You look different from all the other youkai I've ever seen. You smell different as well. You're not from around any of these parts, are you?" She said.

"You could say that. I'm an ice-demon." Touya explained.

"Oh! I've never heard of a demon like you before." The girl said continuing to apply the ointment. Touya winced as the herbs stung him once again.

"A little careful." He hissed.

"I'm sorry! I'm not used to doing this." She apologised as she began to wrap the bandages around his back. "Done!' she said as she got up.

"Thanks." He muttered as she left.

-x-x-x-

* * *

_Where am I?_ Jin thought hazily as his sky blue eyes fluttered open. _What happened?_

He sat up shaking his head trying to clear his head. Memories came back to him. _That's right we were attacked by Sesshoumaru and then Naraku. But then how did I land here? What happened to the others?_ He thought. _And how do I get back to the others?_

A soft groan forced him out of his thoughts and he turned around to see a young demon woman in a red and white kimono lying on the ground next to him. Long rave black hair covered her face but her scent was unmistakeable.

Blue eyes widened. _Kagura?! _

-x-x-x-

* * *

"Hey honey there's something floating the river!" a farmer yelled.

"No that isn't just anything, it's a girl." The farmer's wife said moving into the water to drag the floating girl out.

"She's a strange one. I've never seen anyone with blue hair and clothes like that. Maybe she's a demon. Maybe we should leave her here. She could kill us when she wakes up." The farmer said nervously.

"Nonsense dear! The poor girl's injured. Who knows what can happen to her if we leave her like this. Even if she is a demon." The farmer's wife scolded him.

The farmer sighed seeing the determination in his wife's eyes. "As you say dear."

-x-x-x-

* * *

The demon advanced towards her claws ready to strike. Around her all her friends were dead. Kazuma lay in a pool of blood near a huge tree. She looked back up at the demon as he advanced on her bringing his clawed hand down for the final blow.

She sat up with a start, beads of sweat shining on her forehead. Unfocused scared brown eyes squinted as the early morning sunlight. Her eyes finally adjusted to the morning light before she finally took in her surroundings.

Eyes widened as she saw the unconscious bodies next to her. A young girl, a tiny imp. But that's not what made her scared. It was the person next to her.

There unconscious in the dawn was the same demon that had attacked her and the rest of the Spirit Detectives.

_Great now what do I do?! _

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Done. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a note.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. You guys already know that.

**A/N:** I'm finally back home from my camp. It was great!

Thanks for all the reviews and support. Readers' thoughts and views on a story mean a lot to a writer. So thank you guys very much!

Also I'm extremely sorry for the delay in updating. I had a case of temporary writers block and forgot on how to continue the story. I do have the overview out but I'm working on it as I write the story so it isn't complete but it is a few chapters ahead. So I did have a brief idea of what this chapter was supposed to contain but for some reason I couldn't seem to elaborate on it and I'm sure none of you guys want a six line chapter.

Another thing is that I'm sure you guys may have noticed by now, I revamped the first chapters so they won't have all those spelling mistakes like they used to.

The story picks up from where I left off last time.

* * *

Translations and Honorifics:

_Sengoku Jidai_ – Feudal Era.

_Rekkai Tantei_ – Spirit Detectives

_Youkai_ – Demons

_Hanyou_ – Half Demon

_Ningen_ - Human

_Ki_ – Spirit Energy (At least that's what someone told me it means)

_Rekkai_ – Spirit World

_Ningenkai_ – Human World

_Makkai_ – Demon World

_Kitsune_ – Fox Demon

_Shikon-no-Tama_ – Jewel of the Four Souls

_Yami-no-Tsuki_ – (Something I came up with. I'm not sure if it's a valid name so I'm sorry if it appals Japanese readers. I'm a novice at Japanese) Darkness of the Moon

_Ookami_ – Wolf Demon

_-chan_ – Term of endearment suffixed to the name of a girl, young boy, pet, etc.

_-kun_ – Term of endearment suffixed to the name of a boy.

_-sama_ – Honorific suffixed to a name to show a lot of respect.

_-dono_ – Honorific suffixed to a name to show more respect. One level higher than sama. Literally means lord.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

It had been a while since Yusuke and Kuwabara had woken up in Genkai's temple. Their injuries were now fully healed and they had started training with Genkai so that they'd be even more stronger when they got back to Sengoku Jidai.

However they weren't the only ones training. Yukina was training as well while Keiko began to learn the basics of martial arts from Genkai. Both girls had decided to join the two boys on their journey back to Sengoku Jidai to help the rest of the Rekkai Tantei, and no one could stop them. So after a long hard argument both Kazuma and Yusuke gave in and agreed to let them join but on the condition that they would be able to hold their own against demons.

Both boys had thought this condition would discourage the girls but on the other hand it had gotten them more fired up and determined than they were before; and before they knew it both girls were training rigorously to be able to fight against youkai.

Yukina found it easy since she was a youkai herself, whereas a determined Keiko who had no particularly powerful ki had learnt and mastered all the skills and moves of almost all the physical martial arts that Genkai could teach in such a short time, that it left everyone gagging. She had the ability to take out an armed battalion of youkai

He was glad that Keiko hadn't tapped into her powers yet because he was sure that her slaps would be far more devastating than they already were.

As for Yukina she too was noteworthy of a lot of praise. She too had mastered all the youkai abilities and by the looks of it would be able to take on many youkai at a time.

So much for discouraging the girls, the boys had actually motivated them to get stronger.

Yusuke had overheard Genkai telling Koenma that Yukina and Keiko would make a completely formidable team if they joined up Shizuru. Yukina had powered up so much and become such a skilled youkai fighter that she was fit for winning the entire Dark Tournament all by herself.

As for Keiko, Genkai was sure that with the way Keiko picked up things and with her untapped physical power, if it was the brunette that had died in place of Yusuke when he first became a Spirit Detective and received all his energy, then perhaps they wouldn't have ever had to bother about fighting against Touguro or Sensui. Add to that the keen battle sense and ability of immediate battle strategy planning the girl had developed the Spirit master was sure that the girl would have both former formidable enemies that had caused everyone so much problems beat in the first ten minutes each.

Also after training Keiko for the past two weeks and have her pick up everything so quickly Genkai had come to the conclusion that the girl did have some type of ki in her body, but it was untapped and Genkai wasn't sure on how to release it.

Genkai actually felt that she perhaps wasn't the right person to teach Keiko and it should have been someone more powerful or knowledgeable than her.

And that was saying something, since firstly Genkai rarely complimented anyone like that, and secondly Genkai would rarely humble herself or say that a pupil needed someone stronger than her to teach them

And on hearing Genkai's conclusions Koenma had immediately recruited the two girls like he had done to Shizuru earlier.

The boys sighed in defeat. Their girlfriends were really stubborn and sure knew how to get their way. Well the good part of the whole thing was that they had two more powerful people on their team.

-x-x-x-

* * *

While Yusuke, and Kazuma had recovered from their injuries in the modern era of Ningenkai and were in preparations to get back to Sengoku Jidai the rest of the Rekkai Tantei as well had either started their quest once again or had almost recovered from most of their injuries save for one.

Kurama who had been brutally injured by Sesshoumaru's Tokojin attack (he was the one standing next to the double barrier when it was dissolving) then by Naraku's wave of demonic energy and then taken in most of the poison gas lay unconscious on the floor of a forest clearing as he had been for the past fortnight, barely alive. The grass in the entire clearing was covered by his dried blood lost through his wounds and attracted many low level demons.

If it had not been for his deep connection to plants then the kitsune would've been dead or the demons would've probably devoured his body by now; but the fauna around him kept providing him with their own energy and would not let anything with malicious intent towards the kitsune near him.

However their efforts would be in vain if the re-incarnated kitsune didn't regain consciousness – even for the tiniest moment – soon.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Meanwhile a fully dressed and fully recovered Botan looked at the poor farming village couple that had taken care of her while she was injured. "I really can't thank you enough for what you've done for me." She said while bowing, "But I hope this small token of appreciation will suffice for now." She continued taking out a small heavy pouch from inside a secret fold in her kimono and handing it to them. It was all the gold given to the Rekkai Tantei to use while travelling in Sengoku Jidai. She could always tell Koenma she was mobbed and he'd give her more. This couple really needed the money more than she did.

"I hope this will suffice. Thanks once again. I better get going now!" she said smiling before running out of the hut. Once she was at the edge of the village she took out the Dimension Warp Device Koenma had given her and activated it. _The others must've been worried about me. I hope they aren't mad though. And I hope they've all recovered._ She thought before warping herself to Genkai's Shrine.

When she got there however the sight she was greeted with wasn't a completely comforting one. She warped right in the middle of a fight between Yukina and Kazuma, and it was no couple argument, it was a real full-fledged fight. Both stopped at the sight of the blue haired Spirit Guide. "Botan?!" Yukina asked wide eyed before running up to the girl and hugging her.

"Are you all right? Did you find the others? Where are they?" Yukina asked.

"What do you mean?" Botan asked confused. She looked at Kazuma to explain and he sighed.

"It's a long story. I think it'll be better if Koenma explained everything to you Botan. Let's go inside. Training's over Yukina." He said guiding both girls inside.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Kagura looked at Jin. Well to be more precise she glared at him. She had never met someone as annoying as him. She'd rather deal with Inu-Yasha and the perverted monk Miroku than Jin.

Aiming her fan at him she let loose a few wind blades in his direction before yelling, "Get off that lazy ass of yours and help me catch our dinner before I decide to eat you!"

He was the most laziest demon she had ever met. Ever since they had formed an alliance and he had agreed to help her get her revenge against Naraku and asked her to join the Rekkai Tantei in defeating him, the both of them had been on a wild goose chase searching for the rest of his comrades, and shards of the Shikon-no-Tama and Yami-no-Tsuki. Jin had told her everything, and now that she had got her heart back she was no longer at the mercy of Naraku.

He probably didn't even know she was still alive. But of right now that wasn't her concern. They hadn't eaten for the past three days and she was getting really hungry. So was Jin but instead of helping her get something for dinner he just sat down on the grass lazing around expecting her to do everything like he had been doing for the past two weeks.

He was practically useless!

Of everyone in the Rekkai Tantei she had to get stuck with, why did it have to be him? She would've gladly taken being stuck with Sesshoumaru – though he'd probably kill her – at least she wouldn't have to worry about being hungry.

The red-haired demon still hadn't gotten up.

"Jin!" she yelled, "Get up and help me before I kill you!"

He still didn't get up.

Dinner could wait for a while more, she decided. First she'd have to teach a lazy demon the consequences of annoying her, the hard way.

Red eyes glowed in the light moonlight.

-x-x-x-

* * *

Touya winced as the red-haired ookami female rubbed ointment on his wounds.

"Ayame be a bit more careful!" he hissed.

Meanwhile the ookamis he had now befriended were seated around him growling. He rightly guesses that they were laughing at his pain. But he was sure if they had been in his place they would be howling louder.

It had been two weeks since he had been in their care. He had learnt the name of the girl, Ayame, and they'd become fast friends. It had become a routine now for Ayame to treat his wounds every night, and he had deduced one thing from experience. Ayame wasn't the best nurse-maid in the world.

"Sorry Touya but your wounds are really bad. You were hit by a poison energy whip. Though the effects of the poison have been completely rendered useless, your wounds are deep. Energy whips do that you know. The ointment will sting, I'd be afraid if it didn't. That would mean it isn't working so suck it in and bear the damn pain." Ayame countered.

"Easy for you to say. Why don't you exchange places with me?" Touya argued back.

"Do you want me to use my claws to apply the ointment?" Ayame warned.

Touya wisely kept his mouth shut.

_I know it's selfish, but I hope the others are suffering as much as I am. Of all the demons in the world I had to get stuck with, it had to be an ookami female with a bipolar mood swings._ He thought grudgingly as his wounds stung more with the ointment Ayame was applying.

-x-x-x-

* * *

He could faintly hear voices distantly as he struggled to gain consciousness like all the times before. How many times had he lost that battle already?

The voices were constant. There were three. A raspy voice, the voice of a young girl, both of which were vaguely familiar, and an unfamiliar voice of a young woman. He could dimly make out a conversation going on. He strained on hearing it.

Soon the fog in his mind cleared and he could now hear the conversation clearly.

"Baka onna! The great taiyoukai Sesshoumaru-dono does not need to be taken care of like a ningen child by a filthy ningen like you!" a raspy defiant voice said. He recognised it as Jaken.

"Shut up Lord Jaken-sama! Sesshoumaru-dono isn't well and Shizuru-chan has been treating his injuries even before you were awake! In fact you wouldn't be awake if she hadn't treated your injuries as well!" the young girl yelled. He immediately knew it was little Rin.

"Will the both of you please keep quiet? His fever is high and he needs a peaceful environment in order to recover quickly. Rin-chan, could you please fetch me some more herbs?" A young woman's voice said.

That voice seemed familiar as well but he couldn't place it.

He heard Rin agree and drag Jaken with her.

He slowly opened his eyes. He had learnt from experience that after being unconscious for a long time opening ones eyes wasn't really a pleasant to do.

"Ah you're finally awake. I was starting to wonder if you were in a coma." The woman said again. He looked towards the direction of the voice and noticed she was next to his chest tending to a deep gash there.

She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing the most strange clothes he had ever seen. She reminded him in a way of the miko that roamed with his younger hanyou half-brother. He remembered Rin had referred to her as Shizuru.

"You're wounds are tricky to heal. Leave it to Hiei to make sure about that." The girls said. "I'm Shizuru by the way." That confirmed the mane.

Then he heard the name Hiei. Wasn't that the spiky haired demon with the group of people that attacked him? That meant she was one of them.

"I had wanted to know why you attacked us earlier but I already got the story from your ward Rin-chan. I'm sorry about attacking you. We shouldn't have acted on impulse but we've been chased by many demons and we've had many of demons sent after us by Naraku. We thought you were with him." She said slowly applying ointment to his chest wounds. Then she was silent for a while.

The silence continued till she finished tending to his wounds. "Do you want to sit up while I tend to the wounds on your back or would you prefer to roll over?" she asked.

He wordlessly sat up and she moved to help him. Within moments she was busy tending to the wounds on his back.

He wondered why he allowed this human to do so, but he guessed he shouldn't ponder on it. There were times when even the most proudest of youkai would humble themselves when they were near death. He counted himself as one of them at the moment.

From the bits and pieces of the conversation he heard he realised that he wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't for this woman tending to his injuries.

As he allowed Shizuru to continue tending to his wounds, Sesshoumaru pondered on the situation he was now in.

From what he had heard and realised, he was now in a blood-debt to a ningen onna. By treating his wounds she had trapped him in a blood-debt. He was now life-bound to protect her.

How was he supposed to get out of this?

-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N:** Another chapter done. Sorry for not much Kagome/Kurama, but this chapter was vital. Hope you guys liked it.

I sincerely once again apologise for not being able to update earlier.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Leave a note.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. If I did it goes to say this fanfiction wouldn't be up.

**A/N:** I know I know all of you guys would probably want to kill me for taking this long to update but please understand guys I had finals going on. (Though I haven't done too well in them.) Anyway the next chapter is here so pretty please, forgive me‼

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Kagome winced as she opened her eyes. The light was too bright.

_Where am I?_ she wondered as her body tensed up. She couldn't remember how she ended up in this state. She was groggy and her head felt like it weighed a tonne. Her whole body felt sore and a dull thudding started in her head.

_What happened?_ She thought.

She began ransacking her mind trying to remember exactly what happened that caused her to land up in this state. Nothing happened.

Letting a soft inaudible sigh of pure annoyance and frustration escape her lips she gently closed her eyes.

_Forget it. I'll try and remember later after I start feeling a bit better._ She thought.

Relaxing her aching muscles she stayed still for a while dimly taking in the surrounding sounds in. Slowly her foggy mind began to clear and the memories of how she landed up in this nearly dead state came floating back.

-x-x-x-x-

* * *

The Inu-taichi continued travelling through the thick forest.

"Inu-Yasha please can we slow down!" Shippo whined. They'd been travelling at a restless pace for quite sometime, since Inu-Yasha had literally been working them – along with himself as well – to the bone.

He had forced them to get up earlier than the crack of dawn and settle in to sleep way after night had completely fallen. And he had made them follow this tiring pace for more than a week. And frankly everyone – including Kikiyo – was getting fed up of it. And that was saying something.

The only person who didn't seem to really tire of the pace was Kagome who had now nearly mastered all of her old demonic power she recovered from the few Tsuki shards she had acquired.

And if she ever found out that the main reason that Miroku, Sango, and Shippo, really wanted to slow down the pace was because they were worried about her in reality and not bothered about themselves, she would have probably given them a good thump on their heads.

"No we can't so suck it up and deal with it runt!" Inu-Yasha scoffed.

Shippo turned to Kagome with pleading eyes and was soon joined by Miroku, Sango, – and surprisingly – an annoyed Kikiyo.

"Inu-Yasha lets stop and rest. We've been running like we're youkai war-horses for days now, and everyone's tired." Kagome said.

"I said no!" Inu-Yasha said.

"And I said we stop." Kagome replied calmly.

"And what the hell are you going to do if I say no?" he asked arrogantly.

"Simple," Kagome said dropping her back-pack down and beginning to set up camp, "Sit Boy!"

"Kagome! Why I oughtta…" He growled getting up from the crater his subjugation had just created.

Kagome however who was hardly paying him any attention as she was busy setting up camp just simply said a 'Sit Boy!' once again causing Inu-Yasha to deepen the crater he had just created.

Inu-Yasha got up once again muttering darkly about Kagome to which the raven haired re-incarnated youkai hime calmly asked, "You want me to say the magic words again?"

The silver haired inu-hanyou wisely shut his mouth still glaring at the girl while everyone watched the exchange with a huge sweat-drop on their heads.

_Why does he even bother trying to argue with her when he knows he can't really win?_ They all thought.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

Kagome slowly inhaled a deep breath as a tiny frown formed on her face. Wasn't that what happened in the morning? And judging by the time now it had to be just past sunset.

She sighed inaudibly once again.

_What happened after that?_ She thought.

She grimaced lightly as the memories came back slowly.

_Oh yeah! Him!_ She mentally grumbled.

-x-x-x-x-x-

They had just finished a heavy mid-morning snack. It helped make up for the rabbit-food excuse of a breakfast they had eaten earlier before Inu-Yasha dragged them back on their journey.

And now everyone was lazing around a bit glad for the much welcome break when it happened.

The moment they felt it they realised that it may have been better if they had in fact continued on their restless war-horse pace because at least then they might've cleared the thick forest and not be ambushed as they were now.

They had barely any time to prepare themselves before Hakkudoshi appeared before them with a horde of demons in tow.

It was obvious he was sent by Naraku to try and kill them all again. And they knew this encounter was going to be far tougher than their last one. Maybe it would be fatal.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

Their hunch about this encounter being a fatal one turned out to be true.

The moment Hakkudoshi began his attack Kagome realised that one of her most recent worst fears had been realised. Naraku had definitely grown stronger by leaps and bounds since their last encounter. And his energy wasn't ordinary youkai ki which made her positive that he had managed to somehow tap into the power stored inside the shards of the Yami-no-Tsuki in his possession. But considering Hakkudoshi was still using his old attacks – albeit they were more powerful than before – she concluded that Naraku still had no idea of the existence of the Tsuki jewel.

At least Kagome still had one thing to celebrate about.

But she couldn't celebrate. At least not now. Not while she was still fighting Hakkudoshi, since all her friends were injured and they were currently losing the battle.

Kikiyo and Miroku had already fallen and little Shippo was doing his best to protect them. Sango was surrounded by a large horde of youkai, and Inu-Yasha was brutally injured and had lost a large amount of blood that could fatal even for a demon.

She was at a loss for what to do.

_We have no choice Kagome!_ She heard Midoriko yell in her mind.

_Quit stating the damned obvious and think of a solution Riko!_ Kuronue retorted.

_Well then let me finish bat!_ Midoriko shot back.

_Kami! Can't the two of you give it a rest even at a time like this! We need to do something!_ Kagome yelled at both spirits.

_Well I was going to suggest a solution till bat-boy here interrupted me!_ Midoriko huffed.

_Riko save your tantrum for a later time when we're all safe and I can deal with it. Just give me a way out here right now!_ Kagome said urgently.

_Simple! Take your true form. You'll be able to defeat all of them in five blows maximum, and you can heal everyone else's injuries._ Midoriko suggested.

_Are you insane Riko?! You know what could happen if Kagome did that!_ Kuronue argued.

_Yes I am but I'm sure nothing __will__ happen at all. Kagome can use Kikiyo's soul which is trapped in her body as a filter. And she can use the shards of my soul as an additional one if needed. Both of us are powerful priestess' and besides Kagome herself has inherited powerful miko abilities from her human family line._ Midoriko reasoned.

_You may be on to something Riko._ Kuronue agreed.

_Are you two nuts? What if I lose control of myself? You know how unstable I am!_ Kagome cried.

_Yeah we know! We're your former comrades remember? But Kagome Riko is on to something. She and Kikiyo are powerful mikos. And you too have powerful miko powers from your family. That put together will act as a near perfect limiter. And as for you going berserk, right now considering the situation we're in, it's a risk we'll have to take._ Kuronue argued.

_But…!_ Kagome protested.

_You'd rather have your friends who trust you with their lives die rather than take a tiny risk?_ Riko asked.

_No!_

_Then go for it!_ Riko and Kuronue yelled.

_All right fine! But on one condition. If I lose control of myself and pose a threat then you'll kill me._ Kagome stated.

It was Midoriko's and Kuronue's turn to protest but Kagome silenced them.

_Promise me that! Otherwise I won't be able to transform!_ She yelled.

They gave in.

"Well then, here goes… Let's just hope everything works out in the end." Kagome prayed softly as she began focusing all her energy while picturing her demon form with closed eyes.

Had her eyes been open she would've seen the awe-struck looks her comrades were giving her as she transformed before them engulfed by a pulsing eerie evil blue glow mixed with a pure pink one.

Her wavy blue highlighted raven hair slowly became silky long black curled tresses, while her already petite feminine teenage body took on a more lithe slender mature appearance clothed in onyx black and silver. The baby face slowly elongated into sharp elfin features.

Her ears slowly elongating slightly into elfin ones, her canines enlarging into tiny fangs, her increased sensitive sense of hearing and scent, she could feel every little change taking place in her body namely the more suppressed youkai urges and instincts began to make itself more apparent.

When she opened her eyes the change of colour from hazel-chocolate to blood ruby crimson wasn't unnoticed.

Tsukina Yami had finally appeared.

A smirk formed upon delicate glossy nude pink lips as a slender arm covered in an onyx black sleeve was gracefully thrust outwards with a tiny ball of evil blue energy glowing brightly and maliciously as it grew in size taunting the child demon and his minions in front of the elegant Lunar Maiden.

"There is a saying that children must only be seen and not heard. Do you know what that means?" she asked the evil child youkai in front of her. Her voice was soft, gentle and polite, her expression serene and calm. But both Midoriko and Kuronue recognised the hidden taunt, a trademark of the feared Maiden.

When there was no response forthcoming she continued serenely as if she had all the time in the world. "It means that a child no matter the status their family has in society, whether they are future princes, lords, or common beggars with nothing to inherit should only be seen, and nothing more. They are expected to only be seen. I'm guessing no one ever thought you that my dear boy?" she asked. The calm politeness had not vanished from her voice.

"I thought so." She said after a few moments. "Well then since no one has ever taught you, let me take the pleasure of doing so. But I must inform you, I'm a very strict mentor who doesn't tolerate indiscipline. And even though you've just come under my tutelage you have still broken a rule, and so like any pupil you must face the consequences. But first-" She nimbly snapped her fingers as the tiny ball of blue energy suddenly began shooting out long threads that went through the hearts of all the live youkai Hakkudoshi had brought in tow killing them in less than a spilt second.

"Now that we've gotten rid of all distraction, I believe it's time we start with your punishment child." She said pointing to him with a slender digit. Before he even had time to react he was surrounded by a huge tornado that appeared to be made up of shadows.

The screams they began to hear from the centre of the tornado were heart-wrenching, but the elegant Lunar Maiden simply ignored it and began walking towards a now fallen Sango.

"Now while the child is learning his lesson, I think I should cater to more urgent matters before I lose this form." She said bending down and taking Sango's hand gently in her own.

"This may feel a bit unfamiliar but not unpleasant, and it will over in a moment." Tsukina said as she began to glow a comforting pleasant white along with Sango.

Unfamiliar but not unpleasant was the right term since there was no other way of describing it. Sango felt as though she was sitting in front of a warm fire on a cold winter night, and being out in a refreshing cool breeze on a hot summer afternoon at the same time as she saw all her wounds disappear. So did everyone else when Tsukina had finished healing them.

"Shippo I'm leaving the rest up to you. Tell them everything." She whispered gently before she collapsed. It was only then did they notice the various wounds on her unconscious body and realise she had absorbed their own as the Lunar Maiden disappeared and once again transformed back into Kagome.

They distantly heard Hakkudoshi's final dying screams.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

_Oh yeah! That's what happened. I became Tsukina once again and used up too much ki. No wonder I feel so tired, sore, and disoriented. Note to self: Don't do that for a while. Ah! The hell with it! Knowing me I'm sure to do that sooner than I intend myself to._ She thought opening her eyes slowly and forcing her sore muscles to co-ordinate with her brain and work, lifting herself to a sitting position.

"Awake at last Kagome?" a familiar gruff male voice asked.

She looked up to meet the gazes of two pairs of eyes. One honey amber and another hazel brown locked intensely with her own.

She tensed up completely.

_I never ever get a break, do I?_ she asked herself rhetorically as she awaited the inevitable confrontation that would happen now.

_I should have never agreed to become Inu-Yasha's companion in the first damned place!_ She grumbled.

* * *

**A/N:** There finally done. And it took me more than four hours to type up.

My body's gone stiff dammnit!

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this.

Read and Review.

Till next time then Ciao!

Ow! my damn aching back!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill. I don't own IY or YYH so you can't sue me. Gods do I have to do this all the time?!

**A/N:** Glad you guys like the last chapter so much. Stupid writers block affecting my brain again.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_**(Last Time)**_

_Oh yeah! That's what happened. I became Tsukina once again and used up too much ki. No wonder I feel so tired, sore, and disoriented. Note to self: Don't do that for a while. Ah! The hell with it! Knowing me I'm sure to do that sooner than I intend myself to._ She thought opening her eyes slowly and forcing her sore muscles to co-ordinate with her brain and work, lifting herself to a sitting position.

"Awake at last Kagome?" a familiar gruff male voice asked.

She looked up to meet the gazes of two pairs of eyes. One honey amber and another hazel brown locked intensely with her own.

She tensed up completely.

_I never ever get a break, do I?_ she asked herself rhetorically as she awaited the inevitable confrontation that would happen now.

_I should have never agreed to become Inu-Yasha's companion in the first damned place!_ She grumbled.

_**(Back To Now)**_

Kagome forced herself to smile as cheerfully as she could. "Inu-Yasha. Kikiyo." She acknowledged. "So how long was I out for?" she asked praying to everything she could think off for help.

"It's been a while." Kikiyo answered. "You could say for a few hours."

"That long eh?" she said laughing nervously. The intensity of the gazes being directed at her had not yet diminished.

Suddenly a woman entered the hut and called out to Kikiyo. "Kikiyo-sama, would you kindly grace us for the ceremony?"

Nodding regally the undead miko stood up and left the hut casting Kagome a backward glance.

Kagome winced inwardly. Now she was still left with Inu-Yasha.

"What ceremony?" she asked him not meeting his gaze.

"No clue. The women of the village jumped onto Kikiyo the moment she got you here. Something about a festival. She decided to go on with whatever they said so that they'll treat you.

"Got me here?" Kagome echoed confused.

"She was the fastest among all of us because of her soul stealers." Inu-Yasha answered.

"Oh!" Kagome said. She looked up at Inu-Yasha only to notice he'd gotten up and was walking towards her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. The moment he was above her she felt a fist thump her hard on the head before the inu-hanyou plopped down next to her.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" she yelled rubbing her head. A lump was sure to be forming.

"What was that for? Do you how much you had us worried? Miroku and Sango nearly had a heart-attack the moment you passed out. Shippo was bawling loud enough for the whole world to hear while trying to explain to a completely bewildered Kikiyo and myself as to what the hell had just happened. And he only confused us more. Sango was sobbing continuously. Kikiyo looked like she was going to crumble to dust. And no one has eaten a thing since you passed out. Everyone looks they they've aged ten years in a matter of hours. I don't care if you're a fucking re-incarnated youkai Lunar Maiden hime or whatever. If you ever do that to us ever again I swear I'll come down to hell and drag your soul back up here so I can smack you silly! Got that?!" Inu-Yasha yelled.

She winced finally taking her hands off her ears. "Um Inu-Yasha?" she asked.

"What?" he grumbled

"Could you repeat that again a bit lower, and slowly. I didn't understand a word." She said sincerely.

"You didn't understand?" he asked twitching.

She nodded the affirmative. "Not a word." She said meekly.

Inu-Yasha fell down with a huge sweat drop on his head.

"Kagome!" he breathed getting up again a vein popping in his temple but the moment he looked at the young girl he sighed. "Forget it! You're all right, that's all that matters."

"Um… Okay?" she said slowly.

He bonked her on the head again.

"Ow! Now what was that for?" she grumbled.

"For not telling me about you're whole re-incarnated Lunar Maiden bull-shit." He grumbled.

"For your kind information I only found out about a month ago. And also you're not quite the easiest person to talk to about something like this. And for Kami's sake I'm injured here. You're supposed to be watching over me to make sure I recover. Not adding to my list of bruises." She huffed.

"Like I give a rat's ass!" he said.

Both of them cast each other a side-wards glance before they both burst out into a fit of laughter.

After they both had calmed down Inu-Yasha looked at Kagome. "Anyway will you be able to move on your own or do you need some help? The villagers aren't gonna serve us food in here so I'll have to take you outside. Stupid festival!" he grumbled.

"Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" Kagome asked in mock suspicion.

"Well as you stated before, you're injured, and I have been threatened by a well-wisher of yours, that if I don't help you and take care of you then they will, to quote the exact words 'kick my ass around the entire village, and rid me of my manhood by neutering me." He said shuddering.

"Sango?" Kagome asked giggling.

"Actually it was Kikiyo. She can be very scary when she has to. It still confuses me as to how she became a miko in the first place." He said.

"Ah! A true mystery. Then again Midoriko isn't any less considering how much she loves torturing Kuronue but she's a miko as well, isn't she?" Kagome said giggling.

"All you women are the same." Inu-Yasha muttered a wry smile playing on his face.

"So are you men." Kagome countered smirking mirthfully.

She didn't know exactly what happened, but at that moment every romantic feeling that was ever present between them had suddenly disappeared completely, and a new kind of relationship had replaced it, which neither seemed to mind.

It actually made it seem more comfortable to be around each other now since both realised that their once famous arguments would now rarely ever take place ever again.

The unstable bridge of their used to be angst filled romance just crumbled and a new more stable bridge of camaraderie was built. And they both liked it.

"Anyway I can smell hot food so I think we should better be going before your lovely miko comes in suspecting something else and actually neuters you." Kagome joked.

"Yeah wouldn't put it past her." Inu-Yasha said seriously.

Kagome giggled again as she took Inu-Yasha's hand and pulled herself up against him, and using him as support she began to walk out of the hut with him.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

Sango, Miroku, and Shippo all glomped Kagome and the moment they saw her.

"Hey I know you guys are glad to see me alive and stuff but if you don't get off me I'll be in la-la land or in the next world in a matter of seconds." She said hoarsely trying to breathe.

When they let her go she took in huge breaths of air.

"Why did I have to be gifted wit idiots for friends?" she muttered inaudibly as they began walking towards the feast.

"Because you're one yourself." Inu-Yasha countered back in a hushed whisper smirking.

"Careful now or your girlfriend may think we're flirting and decide to say goodbye to your manhood." Kagome whispered back evil smile in place.

"You're despicable." He muttered.

"I used to be a thief you know. Of course I'll be despicable." She countered.

"I thought you were a princess?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"That was before my oh so glorious thieving days." She said.

"Right." The hanyou replied sitting her down before plopping down next to her. "Anything else I should be knowing?" he asked.

"Like what?" Kagome asked back.

"Like past lovers?" he asked.

Kagome raised a brow. "Why so nosy all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. "You know almost everything about my past life. It's appropriate I know almost everything I have to about yours." He replied.

"Not now. Maybe another time. Like when the other idiots ask me for anecdotes." She said.

"Keh! Fine!" he huffed and Kagome giggled silently. Yup this friendship seemed much more better than their old angsty romance.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

Kurama sighed as he gently opened his eyes.

How long had he been out for?

He could feel weak body pulling in energy from the surrounding fauna. A wry smirk slowly formed in his lips. Trust the plants around him to love him so much even if he'd just met him to keep giving him a regular supply of their own ki so that he could live. But he couldn't sustain himself on their ki any longer. He'd only end up killing them.

Besides he was on a mission. And he had shards of the Shikon and Tsuki jewels in his possession. If it was required he was sure he could tap into their powers, but he'd save that for an ultimately last resort.

Slowly concentrating he tried to completely become the fox. He knew that would help him recover a bit quicker since then the youkai would be completely free. He felt himself transforming and the smile reformed on his lips. At least now he'd be better.

Forcing himself to get up he began to slowly make his way out of the forest, limping gently.

This was going to be a long journey, he thought.

-x-x-x-x-x-

He was right when he had thought earlier that this would be a long journey.

It was nearing sunset of his fifth day and he was still stuck in the forest.

He was tired, sore, and hungry. His body was hot all over, probably with a fever. And his wounds weren't helping either since most of them had opened up again.

Suddenly the faint scent of a burning fire hit his nose along with the faint scent of something he was really familiar with but he couldn't place it. Struggling to concentrate on the scent he could smell other things, like humans, crops, and moist earth. He was near a village.

Forgetting that he was still the fox he began making his way towards the scent of the village, determined to reach there before nightfall and ask for help. Youko Kurama couldn't believe himself. He would ask mortal humans for help.

Another pained wry smirk formed on his face. His time in Ningenkai had definitely changed him.

He continued his pained limp towards the village.

As he drew nearer the scents and auras became more clearer and he could make out more things. Like children, old people, the farmers, the village women, three holy auras maybe mikos or monks, one being familiar, three youkai auras, again one familiar from here, a hanyou aura, and a pure-demon mixed aura this one seemed to be the familiar one he sensed earlier.

THE HELL?

Youkai, hanyou and holy-youkai mixed auras! He'd be damned if the village was under attack.

He began to concentrate on the scents even more. He couldn't smell any bloodshed, and the youkai aura's seemed to be peaceful ones mingling with the holy ones. And they didn't seem to be belonging to the village like the one with the holy auras.

Mikos, monks, and youkai travelling together?

A brief image of Tsukina, Kuronue, Midoriko, and himself travelling all those years ago in the human realm came to him. All of them happy. Tsukina casting an arguing Kuronue and Midoriko a smirk while rolling her eyes, trying to stifle her giggles at the obvious denied attraction between the bat youkai and the miko.

Everything used to be so perfect back then.

Violently shaking his head to rid himself of the painful memory even tough he was injured he began to head towards the village once again. Now was not a time for nostalgia. He had to get help for his wounds.

The outskirts of the village came in his line of sight and he could faintly make out a young man dressed in monk' robes with a kitsune pup chatting with what appeared to be a farmer.

They'd help him. He began limping towards them.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

Miroku and Shippo had no idea what to do.

They were just chatting with one of the farmers about buying herbs from him when they sensed a powerful youkai aura and the next thing they knew an injured youkai was in front of them panting breathlessly.

"We were attacked and I got separated from my group…" he managed to say in between pants before fainting.

Maybe it was because he were so used to hanging around with youkai like Kouga, maybe it was because Shippo said he could smell Naraku on him, or maybe because Kagome's ways had finally rubbed off on him a lot, Miroku found himself carrying the unconscious demon and walking towards the hut they were staying in.

The moment Sango and Inu-Yasha saw them they rushed forward.

"He smells like Naraku." Inu-Yasha growled.

"Yeah Shippo said that too. But he says his group was attacked and he got separated from them. I'm assuming it was Naraku that attacked him." Miroku said.

"But why?" Sango asked.

"We'll find out when he comes too. We'd better get him to Kagome. Her medicine and those bandages of hers are good with these kinds of wounds." He said.

"I'll take him to her." Inu-Yasha offered.

Yeah it was the last. Kagome's ways had rubbed on all of them.

-x-x-x-x-x-

* * *

**A/N: **So how was it? I decided that instead of meeting up with the Spirit Detectives Kurama should instead fall into the care of the Inu-taichi. It livens things a bit.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own Inu-Yasha and Yu-Yu-Hakusho.

**A/N:** Love you guys so much. You leave me such beautiful reviews. Oh and sorry about taking so long with the update. I've been really busy.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Kagome sighed as she watched over Youko Kurama's unconscious form. It was her umpteenth sigh of the entire morning. His wounds were almost healed up till almost a hundred percent but he still hadn't woken up. And that was strange since the kitsune thief would generally gain consciousness after healing till thirty five percent. So this occurrence was just... strange.

Also she'd noticed a lot of differences in her old comrade. His scent and aura were different. There was something human about it. It seemed like a hanyou's and at the same time completely different. Like two aura's forced to share the same space. His aura felt similar to her own. It was like as if he too had been re-incarnated as a human.

_Well isn't that a nice thing!_ She thought wryly as she gazed at the unconscious kitsune. Another sigh escaped her lips as she pondered on his injuries more. Inu-Yasha and Shippo had said that he smelt like Naraku. She too had got the defiling stench of the shape-shifting hanyou when Kurama was brought into the hut. So that had to mean Youko was attacked by Naraku. But why? Why would Naraku attack Youko? What would he gain it? Unless…

Her eyes widened at the thought and she crawled over to the silver-haired kitsune. Taking a long deep breath and concentrating on her Lunar Maiden abilities she began to break his aura down. True enough, after a matter of three seconds she had found what she was looking for. Seven Sacred Jewel shards, untainted, glowing pure pink. How had he come across these? Sighing, she deftly extended her right hand to retrieve the shards.

However, when her skin touched his, Youko's hand instinctively grabbed her wrist, and his golden eyes flew open glaring at her.

"Who are you?" he growled, but instead of being surprised, Kagome's anger flared. _The bastard was awake all this time?_ She thought venomously.

"Three guesses fox." She hissed back.

Golden eyes widened again though not in anger this time, but surprise. "Tsukina?" he asked hoarsely.

"No Hitler's illegitimate love child with Osama-bin-Laden." She replied sarcastically while the kitsune groaned.

"Must you always be this sarcastic with me?" he asked.

"Must you always be this stupid?" she returned and Youko sighed defeated.

"So you re-incarnated yourself after all." He said.

"I guess so. Considering right now I'm a sixteen year old human teenager, when I used to originally be a demon. So yeah, you could say I'm re-incarnated." Kagome replied.

"Quit the damn sarcasm _Hime_!" Youko growled not noticing Kagome's fiery brown eyes softening on the use of her nickname. She reached for the silver haired kitsune's ears and began to softly stroke them earning a low content growl from him.

"How have you been all this time?" she asked.

"Fine. Kuronue died. Then a Rekkai bounty hunter killed me. I took my spirit form, and re-incarnated myself into a human, which looks like a girl might I add. Stole the Forlorn Hope from Rekkai to save my human mother. Got caught and sucked into doing parole for the prince of Rekkai. Competed in a Dark Tournament. Then stopped a madman from merging Makkai with Ningenkai. Competed in the first demon world tournament. Lost. Been an honours student while doing odd jobs for Koenma. And as of late, been sent five hundred years into Ningenkai's past to search for the Shards of _your_ memory stone, and the Shikon. Found out that the souls of all my closest comrades haven't passed over. So you could say my life has been quite peachy. I'm living out my karma." He said sarcastically.

"So how has life been to you Tsukina?" he asked.

"Like yours. I'm living out my karma as well. But unfortunately for me, the Kami's and The devil himself hates me. So the Karma is magnified tenfold." Kagome said plopping down next to him. "You know you've changed." She added.

"Really?" he asked. It was his turn to be sarcastic.

"Yes Youko, really. You seem more open now. I guess maybe your time in Ningenkai has actually done you some good." She stated.

"Thank you. Now if you don't mind, would you stop fucking talking and heal me? I'd really like to get back on my feet." He grumbled.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You may seem more open now, but you're still worse than a pup." She grumbled pulling out her first-aid-kit. "I would've used the normal method, but I've just recovered from a major battle, so I can't take the risk. Stay still while I bandage you. You of above all people should know I'm not very tolerant with fussy patients." She said smiling sweetly.

Translation: I'm pissed, and if you don't co-operate I won't hesitate to make this a horrible experience.

Youko nodded grimly and steadied himself for what he knew would be a very long medicare session.

Outside the hut Kuronue, Midoriko, Shippo, Kirara, Sango, Miroku, Inu-Yasha and Kikiyo (all of whom had been informed by Kuronue, and Midoriko about the Tsukina/Youko love-hate relationship) all had huge sweat-drops on their heads as they heard Youko shout, and howl in pain while Kagome treated him not at all bothering to be gentle with him.

"Does she always do that with him?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"Usually she's worse." Kuronue stated sighing. "She always treats people she cares the most about that way when they're injured. Something about hard love."

"She's always been that way." Midoriko added. "You'll must be aware of that since she's travelled with you for so long."

"We are." Everyone else chorused sympathising with a howling Youko.

* * *

**A/N:** So how was it? I hope it turned out all right.

Leave a note. Ciao!


	13. Chapter 13

**  
Disclaimer:** Don't own Inu-Yasha or Yu-Yu-Hakusho. Don't make me feel any more worse about it, than I already do.

**A/N:** I was busy with studies, so unfortunately no update. Life's really cruel to me, isn't it? Oh and this chapter and probably the following two chapters will focus on the other YYH characters and how they're coping up. (I can't just omit them all of a sudden, can I? And it'd be unjust to shove them all in one tiny chapter.)

This one is for Shizuru.

_Italics_ – thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Shizuru Kuwabara sighed as she continued to tend to the injuries that Rin had acquired the countless times she'd fallen down that morning.

"Rin-chan you should be more careful." The brunette said.

"Gomen Shizuru-chan." The eleven year old replied smiling and Shizuru smiled back. Getting up, the brunette moved towards where Ah-Un the two-headed dragon/horse demon lay.

"Leg." She said and the demon put it's injured leg forward. Shizuru began tending to that as well.

"Shizuru-chan would make a good doctor. Ne Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked suddenly looking at the silver haired taiyoukai sitting beneath the shade of a large cherry tree.

The demon looked up on being addressed and offered his human ward a rare smile. "Whatever you say Rin."

Shizuru looked back at the taiyoukai a small contemplative frown on her face. How many days had passed since she'd last changed his bandages, she wondered. Surely a week or more had passed.

"How are your wounds doing?" she asked curtly.

"How dare you talk to Lord Sesshoumaru like that human wench?!" Jaken said fuming.

"I asked him. Not you toad-man." She shot coolly, before turning her attention back to the taiyoukai. "I probably should redress the wounds." She told him.

"I'm fine." The taiyoukai replied stoically.

"Well I'll still redress them anyway. I don't want to take any chances. I was there when you were injured, and you took quite a few hits from both Kurama's and Hiei's dangerous attacks. And Kurama's poisoned Rose Whip is more than ten times worse than your own Poison Energy Whip. Especially when you have Hiei's black hell fire shooting straight into those already poisoned wounds. Ordinarily a demon like you with your type of self healing skills should've died within three days." She said.

"Who are you to compare Lord Sesshoumaru to some common lowly demons?" Jaken interrupted.

"But you didn't. And I think it's because of that sword you carry around with you. That gives off some massive life energy. Enough to bring someone back from over the brink of death. But it wont do you any good with Kurama's poison inside your body. His poisons are designed to linger around in the body even after it heals the wounds over, and cause it to rot from the inside, or something along those lines. And I believe that isn't a very nice way to die." She said swiftly ignoring Jaken's interruption.

Her hands dived into the pouch slung over her hip, and she began taking out various herbs and some bandages.

"Hey imp-man, you know herbs very well right?" she didn't even wait for his answer before continuing, ignoring the glare he sent her way. "We're running short on a few important ones. Mostly the one's that I'm using to make the antidote for your master's wound. I'm giving you a few of these, so that you know which ones are needed. Be a good servant and fetch them."

She threw a pouch at the green imp.

"Rin-chan, go with Jaken and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Shizuru said, absently as she began grinding the various herbs into a fine paste.

"And you," she said momentarily glancing up at the taiyoukai to let him know she was addressing him, "take the haori off. I can't redress your wounds with your clothes on." By the time she had finished preparing the antidote Jaken and Rin had already left with Ah-Un, and Sesshoumaru was waiting for her with his haori off.

Settling down next to him she began undressing his wounds. After all the bandages were off Sesshoumaru heard the brunette heave a soft sigh of relief.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"You should thank your stars. The antidote has been working perfectly. This may have to be the last dressing." She said, as she began applying the medicine on his back.

They didn't speak after that. It was the same ritual Shizuru thought as she continued to tend to the taiyoukai's wounds. They would rarely speak for the whole time she tended to his wounds. They rarely spoke to one another at all. And she didn't mind it at all. She enjoyed the silence, compared to all the chaos and noise she was used to, when she was with her brother and his friends.

She was bandaging the wounds on his chest, when Sesshoumaru finally spoke. "Why do you help me like this?"

She sighed once again. Whenever he spoke to her during this little ritual. It would always be the same question he asked. "How many times will you ask me that?" she asked in turn.

"Till I get an answer." He replied.

"Well I've answered you before. Why don't you accept it?" she asked.

"I don't believe it." He replied.

"Well that isn't my problem now, is it? You asked me a question, and that's my answer." She said.

"What will you gain from it? From helping me like this? Caring for my wounds like this?" he asked.

"Am I supposed to gain something?" she asked back. "I had no clue I was supposed to. Really Sesshoumaru don't you get tired of asking me these stupid questions?"

"I want an answer." He said.

"Well it stays the same. I'm helping you because that's just my nature. And because I feel guilty for all your injuries – even though you were the one that attacked us. Maybe because if you're not around, then Rin will be left alone in this world. Jaken surely won't take her in. He only bears up with her because you like her. And I have nothing to gain from this. Once I'm positive your injuries are healed, we'll go our separate ways." Shizuru replied.

"And for the sake of whatever you believe in, please don't ask me this question again. It's really irritating." She said tying the last bandage.

She got up. "I believe that there's a spring nearby?" she asked. The taiyoukai nodded.

"Good I'll go wash up there. And have a bath while I'm at it. Will you be fine here on your own?" she asked.

The taiyoukai narrowed his golden orbs, and Shizuru shrugged at his attitude. "Well then I'm off. I'll be back in a while. Tell Rin not to worry about me." She said walking off in the direction of the spring.

Sesshoumaru's eyes never left the brunette's back. He didn't believe what this human said. Not one word. Perhaps the woman knew about the blood debt? That would explain why she saved him. Because of the blood-debt he was bound to the brunette to be her protector for life. He was in a way of sorts her slave. His eyes tinted red when the thought crossed his mind. If that was why this human saved him, then she was sorely mistaken. There were many ways to get out of a blood debt and he'd use one of them or the other. And then he'd kill this incompetent woman for trying to enslave him.

* * *

Shizuru Kuwabara sighed in content as she sunk deeper into the water. The cold water felt so good around her naked body. Looking up at the sky she wondered how her younger brother was doing.

_Is he all right? Are the others all right?_ She thought.

Then her mind wandered back to little Rin. The girl reminded Shizuru so much of herself when she was eleven. She was so innocent back then, before dealing with the world had made her so jaded. She didn't want that to happen to Rin. She wanted the girl to grow up happy, and independent. Not jaded like her. And in order for Rin to have that happy independent future, that Shizuru never had, the girl needed Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru, she pondered, so cold and stoic. He'd get along perfectly with Hiei, she thought. The man was a complete mystery. His actions never gave anything about him away. And he was a strong and skilled fighter. A dangerous enemy.

Sighing she closed her eyes. She was doing it again. Getting herself lost in thought. Mechanically lifting herself out of the water she climbed back onto the bank and grabbed a towel. Drying herself off she put on the clothes she'd laid out earlier, before sitting down on a rock at the bank. She fumbled inside her pouch for a pack of cigarettes and took one out. Placing the cancer stick between her lips she lit it before inhaling deeply. It felt good. Nostalgic. How long had it been since she'd last smoked?

She'd stopped ever since she started journeying with Sesshoumaru, Rin, and Jaken.

Taking another puff her thumb moved gently over the engraving on her lighter, and her brown eyes saddened. _SK_. It was _his_ lighter.

Memories of the Dark Tournament came rushing back to her mind. The demons, the fights, the unfair conditions, the Touguro brothers.

_Sakyou._

She forgotten how long had passed since that fateful day when he ended his life in front of her, but she hadn't forgotten him. His long black hair. Those mysterious blue eyes. The warm smiled that deceived the world. The scar above his left eye. A low sigh escaped her lips, as the cancer stick continued to burn between them. Her life was a screw up. She pined for the love of a man who was dead, and if he was alive would've probably had the entire human world killed by the youkai of Makkai.

Her senses prickled when she felt a youkai close by, but relaxed when she realised it was only Sesshoumaru. She chose to ignore him, and continue playing with her lighter, while gazing of into space.

When the silence began to get suffocating she merely leant back on the rock closing her eyes and said, "If you want to say something, you should." Then after a short pause added, "Unless you want to ask me for the umpteenth time as to why I'm helping you."

On noticing that there was no answer forthcoming the brunette realised, that the taiyoukai had indeed come to ask her that very question. "Look," she said looking at the sky, "I don't care if you trust me or not. The feeling's mutual. I'm not helping you because I want to. I'm doing it for myself. Like I said before, it's in my nature. And I'm guilty about your injuries, so I want to alleviate that guilt. End of story." She turned to him meeting his emotionless gaze head-on with her own dead gaze, her cigarette hanging precariously from her lips.

"Rin is waiting for you. She has dinner ready." He said at last before turning around and walking back. Shizuru silently got up, gathered her things, and followed the taiyoukai back to where they'd perched camp. All the way she prayed that Sesshoumaru's wounds would heal quickly. As much as she'd grown fond of Rin, she couldn't stand the taiyoukai any longer. And she couldn't wait to get away from him and find her little brother before they restarted their mission.

* * *

**A/N:** Yup this one's done. I hope you guys like it.

Leave a note telling me how it was. Ciao.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them. Don't sue me.

**A/N:** This chapter's about…

_Italics_ – thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Kagura sighed as she sunk lower in the spring. How long had it been since she'd last taken a bath? Probably a week ago, she thought sullenly.

_I would've been able to have one sooner if it wasn't for the stupid red-head hanging around me the entire time._

Kagura sighed once again.

Of all the people she had to be stuck with, it had to be Jin – the most laziest demon to walk the planet.

"Hey Kagura, you sure that you don't me to join you?" the question rang out through the air shattering the calm silence.

Kagura smacked her head in annoyance. Not only was Jin the most laziest demon she'd ever met, he was also the most perverted man she'd ever had the misfortune of meeting. His antics could probably put the monk with the black hole to shame. And said perverted lazy demon had a thing for her.

Didn't Kami _love_ her? _At least a little bit?_

Picking up her fan she let out a few wind blades in the direction of Jin's voice. "Yes I'm positive I don't want _you_ joining me." She screamt back sinking lower in the spring.

"Ow! You could have just said so! You didn't have to use you wind blades ya know!" he replied back adding a few curses and grumbles to the statement.

Kagura groaned lightly shaking her head as she got out of the water, and dressed in her kimono, before walking back to where they'd perched camp.

"Whoa! Kagura-chan you should let your hair down more, instead of trying it up. You look much _cuter_ this way!" Jin said as he watched his comrade walk back to camp adjusting her kimono sleeves. She arched an eye-brow at him.

"I'm serious." The red head added.

"Jin." Kagura said walking closer to him.

"Yeah?" the demon asked nonchalantly.

"Shut up!" she said smacking him hard on his head before sitting down across him and busying herself with taming her long wild hair.

Jin sighed. _So much for trying to woo her._

* * *

"Touya!" Ayame called her hands filled with herbs as she entered the cave they were camping in, "I need a little help here."

The blue-haired ice-demon looked up from his place by the fire, and nodded. Getting up he walked towards the female ookami and took some of the load off her.

"Any sign of your fiancée Kouga yet?" he asked conversationally.

"It's still the faint one from earlier. Damn idiot is too fast for his own good! No doubt he's caught on that wench Kagome's scent and is out chasing after her, and getting clobbered by Inu-Yasha in the process." she grumbled in reply.

"And yet you continue to chase after him, even though you know he doesn't like you." Touya commented wryly.

"I have to make him see reason! He promised to mate with me, and bind our clans!" Ayame retorted back.

Touya sighed. "You know Ayame it's obvious that Kouga won't mate with you, even if Kagome refuses him. He doesn't love you. You should probably just give up." He said.

"What do you mean?" she asked annoyed.

Touya winced at her high pitch. "I mean that you're a pretty demon. And you're strong and can take care of yourself. If you even bothered I'm sure you could much better males than Kouga. One's that would actually bother about you, rather than treating you like a child or a piece of dirt." Touya stated.

Despite her annoyance from earlier Ayame found herself smiling a bit. "It's times like these when I wonder if you're flirting with me Touya."

"And it's times like this when, if I was a girl, I'd tell you to shut up." The ice-demon replied, while the red-head giggled.

"You know something, I'm glad I found a friend like you." She said.

"Well truthfully you won't have me for long. I'll be leaving as soon as I get any trace of my comrades or my target, since I'm on an important mission."

"Speaking of it, you haven't told me anything about it yet." Ayame said, not noticing Touya tense. "I know it's got something to do with Naraku." She turned to look at him, her deep emerald eyes curious and demanding.

"I can't tell you much." He began.

"I figured that much out already." She broke in.

He nodded. "We're mainly trying to stop him from completing something that would give him immense destructive power."

"The Shikon?"

"Yes." Touya answered not wanting to divulge anything more.

"Well then good luck to you on that. Not only do you have to deal with Naraku and his minions, but you'll have to deal with Inu-Yasha, Kagome and many others after the Shikon as well." Ayame said.

"Kagome won't be a problem. We're supposed to let the re-incarnated Lunar Maiden have the jewel anyway, since she's the only one who can completely erase it's existence, by freeing Midoriko's soul." Touya said as he began getting the fire ready. It was only when he'd heard Ayame's next statement that he realised that he'd given out to much information already.

"Re-incarnated Lunar Maiden? I thought Kagome was the re-incarnation of the priestess Kikiyo who guarded the Shikon?" Ayame asked emerald eyes boring into him. Touya looked up to meet her demanding gaze. _To quote Yusuke and Jin, I'm fucking screwed._

* * *

"I can't believe this is happening. Please let this be a dream!" Yusuke grumbled pinching the bridge of his nose to stop an oncoming head-ache.

"If it was a dream I'd be happy, but it isn't so quit whining Urameshi!" Kuwabara said rubbing his temples furiously.

"Would you two morons shut up?!" Genkai said looking back at the two grumbling teens. "We don't need to attract any attention. The demons here aren't like the ones you normally get in our times. There are more B-class ones here. At least in this part of the woods."

Yusuke just continued grumbling, along with Kuwabara.

"What are you two complaining about anyway?" Botan asked as she looked behind.

"Three guesses." Yusuke said sarcastically looking past Botan at two other people.

"Oh Yusuke would you stop being such a cry baby! We'll be fine!" a voice said. Yusuke grunted followed by Kuwabara.

"Oh it's no use with you two!" the voice said again as the speaker threw their hands up in frustration before walking ahead, followed by another person.

Yusuke turned his attention to Genkai. "This is all your fault you know! If you had just sided with us earlier then we wouldn't be in this problem in the first place!" he yelled!

"Shut it Urameshi! I have a bad enough headache already, without your yelling!" Kuwabara cut in. "By the way, whose moronic idea was it in the first place, to let Yukina and Keiko join us in this fucking mission?!"

"Koenma!" Botan answered.

"Remind me to kill him once the missions over then." Kuwabara said.

"You'll have to beat me to it." Yusuke grumbled. "How the hell are we supposed to fight a sneaky unfair bastard like Naraku with our girlfriends accompanying us anyway? We're just fucking shoving our fucking weakness in his fucking spider-face!"

Botan sweat-dropped. This was going to be a long mission!

A _really long_ mission.

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**A/N:** So how was it? Good? Bad? Please tell me I'd love to know.

I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a note.

Till next time then Ciao!


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